BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	C.S.H.B. 3506
88R19545 MEW-F	By: Harris, Caroline; Hull (Hughes)
	State Affairs
	5/16/2023
	Committee Report (Substituted)

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

In 2022, it came to light that prosecutors in California were using a sexual assault victim's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample collected from a rape kit years later in a criminal investigation. This has caused outcry and led many in the legal community as well as sexual assault survivors to point out the moral and ethical problems with storing a victim's DNA in a law enforcement database. H.B. 3506 seeks to safeguard the privacy of victims of sexual assault by ensuring that their DNA is not permanently stored in such a database and then distributed to other entities. This bill will help prevent circumstances where a victim is wrongfully connected to a crime they did not commit and will provide peace of mind to those who may be concerned about their biological information being shared with a multitude of sources.

(Original Author's/Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

C.S.H.B. 3506 amends current law relating to the storage in and removal from certain DNA databases of certain DNA samples.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Forensic Science Commission in SECTION 2 (Article 38.01, Code of Criminal Procedure) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 2, Article 38.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Subdivisions (3-a) and (3-b), to define "DNA QA database" and "elimination sample."

SECTION 2. Amends Article 38.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Section 4-e, as follows:

Sec. 4-e. DNA QA DATABASE; STORAGE AND REMOVAL OF CERTAIN DNA RECORDS. Requires the Texas Forensic Science Commission (FSC) to adopt rules:

(1) requiring a DNA QA database to be maintained separately from any other local, state, or federal database, including the CODIS DNA database established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(2) prohibiting a crime laboratory from uploading or storing a DNA record created from an elimination sample, or any other information derived from that record, in any database other than the DNA QA database maintained by the crime laboratory;

(3) prohibiting a crime laboratory from allowing any other person to access the crime laboratory's DNA QA database; and

(4) requiring each crime laboratory that maintains a DNA QA database to, not later than three months after the date on which a forensic DNA analysis of an elimination sample is completed, remove from the DNA QA database the DNA record created from the elimination sample and any other information derived from that record that is contained in the database.

SECTION 3. Amends Section 411.141, Government Code, by adding Subdivision (8-a) to define "elimination sample."

SECTION 4. Amends Section 411.142(g), Government Code, by deleting existing text authorizing the DNA database to contain DNA records for a biological specimen of a deceased victim of a crime.

SECTION 5. Amends Subchapter G, Chapter 411, Government Code, by adding Section 411.1431, as follows:

Sec. 411.1431. INCLUSION OF ELIMINATION SAMPLE IN DNA DATABASE PROHIBITED. Prohibits a DNA record created from an elimination sample and all information derived from that record, notwithstanding Section 411.142(g), from being uploaded to, stored in, or capable of being searched for in the DNA database.

SECTION 6. Provides that, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act but not later than December 1, 2023:

(1) FSC is required to:

(A) adopt rules for the removal of elimination sample DNA records from a crime laboratory's DNA database, as required by Section 4-e, Article 38.01 (Texas Forensic Science Commission), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act; and

(B) require each crime laboratory to remove all elimination sample DNA records and any information derived from those records that have been stored in a DNA QA database maintained by the crime laboratory for a period of more than three months; and

(2) the public safety director of the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas is required to remove all elimination sample DNA records and any information derived from those records that have been stored in the DNA database maintained by the director for a period of more than three months.

SECTION 7. Effective date: September 1, 2023.