Lt. Chris Collins (Ret.)
Maryland v. Alonzo Jay King Jr. – In 2009 King was arrested on 1st and 2nd degree assault charges. As part of the booking process under Maryland law a buccal swab was used to obtain King’s DNA which was subsequently entered into the Maryland database. King’s DNA was matched to an unknown sample from a 2003 rape case and King was subsequently charged and convicted of the 2003 rape. King appealed the conviction, and the Maryland Supreme Court reversed the lower courts conviction arguing the buccal swab during booking was an unreasonable search in violation of the 4th Amendment. Maryland appealed the reversal to the US Supreme Court.
Justice Kennedy wrote the Courts majority opinion which held that the utility of DNA evidence in the criminal justice system is undisputed to exonerate the innocent and identify the guilty. Therefore, DNA identification of arrestees is a reasonable search under the 4th Amendment and may be included as part of the routine booking process just like fingerprinting and photographs. DNA identification is the 21st century version of fingerprints, and as an advanced technique is superior to fingerprinting in many ways.
CODIS
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was established by the FBI in the 1990’s to facilitate the sharing of DNA information. As of 2024 CODIS held over 17 million offender, arrestee, and forensic DNA profiles and helped in more than 680,000 investigations. Since Maryland v. King more than half the States in the US have enacted arrestee DNA collection laws including Illinois. There are various qualifying factors for collection and subsequent submission of DNA evidence, and the attached chart and map from the National Institute of Justice illustrates the differences.
ILLINOIS SPECIFICS
In Illinois, law enforcement can collect DNA samples from people arrested for certain crimes during the booking process:
- Felonies and Class A misdemeanors
The Illinois General Assembly requires that DNA samples be taken from people arrested for these crimes.
- Qualifying offenses
The Illinois Department of State Police requires that DNA samples be taken from people convicted of, found guilty of, or placed on court supervision for qualifying offenses.
DNA samples are collected for identification purposes and are stored in local crime laboratories. They are not submitted to federal or statewide databases until the person is convicted of a qualifying offense. If the person is found not guilty or the case is dismissed, the DNA sample and profile are expunged.
DNA samples can be collected from a person’s saliva or tissue. If a person refuses to provide a DNA sample, the refusal cannot be used against them, however law enforcement may use reasonable force to obtain a DNA sample.