republic-os/legal/us/code/title-34/chapter-121/section-12592.md

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LegalText	34 U.S.C. § 12592	Index to facilitate law enforcement exchange of DNA identification information	us	united_states_code	code_section	34	CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT	121	VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT	12592	34 U.S.C. § 12592	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc34@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t34/s12592	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-34/usc34.xml	da3eb67eab4fe6d1ab05fdca074d5e54c000d11cb4ee5f7ce379c49448cf407c	7528207b20373f75fea96478ab5313727f47852e5364ee8c5ea18909f66a9da3	9a745dc5882e59d4416bf0207fe81f7040666f8448256226712b5004a907356a	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

34 U.S.C. § 12592 - Index to facilitate law enforcement exchange of DNA identification information

Text

(a) Establishment of index The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation may establish an index of—

(1) DNA identification records of—

(A) persons convicted of crimes;

(B) persons who have been charged in an indictment or information with a crime; and

(C) other persons whose DNA samples are collected under applicable legal authorities, provided that DNA samples that are voluntarily submitted solely for elimination purposes shall not be included in the National DNA Index System;

(2) analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes;

(3) analyses of DNA samples recovered from unidentified human remains; and

(4) analyses of DNA samples voluntarily contributed from relatives of missing persons.

(b) Information The index described in subsection (a) shall include only information on DNA identification records and DNA analyses that are—

(1) based on analyses performed by or on behalf of a criminal justice agency (or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10) in accordance with publicly available standards that satisfy or exceed the guidelines for a quality assurance program for DNA analysis, issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under section 12591 of this title;

(2) prepared by—

(A) laboratories that—

(i) have been accredited by a nonprofit professional association of persons actively involved in forensic science that is nationally recognized within the forensic science community; and

(ii) undergo external audits, not less than once every 2 years, that demonstrate compliance with standards established by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or

(B) criminal justice agencies using Rapid DNA instruments approved by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in compliance with the standards and procedures issued by the Director under section 12591(a)(5) of this title; and

(3) maintained by Federal, State, and local criminal justice agencies (or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10) pursuant to rules that allow disclosure of stored DNA samples and DNA analyses only—

(A) to criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes;

(B) in judicial proceedings, if otherwise admissible pursuant to applicable statutes or rules;

(C) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, who shall have access to samples and analyses performed in connection with the case in which such defendant is charged; or

(D) if personally identifiable information is removed, for a population statistics database, for identification research and protocol development purposes, or for quality control purposes.

(c) Failure to comply Access to the index established by this section is subject to cancellation if the quality control and privacy requirements described in subsection (b) are not met.

(d) Expungement of records (1) By Director (A) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall promptly expunge from the index described in subsection (a) the DNA analysis of a person included in the index—

(i) on the basis of conviction for a qualifying Federal offense or a qualifying District of Columbia offense (as determined under sections 40702 and 40703 of this title, respectively), if the Director receives, for each conviction of the person of a qualifying offense, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned; or

(ii) on the basis of an arrest under the authority of the United States, if the Attorney General receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term “qualifying offense” means any of the following offenses:

(i) A qualifying Federal offense, as determined under section 40702 of this title.

(ii) A qualifying District of Columbia offense, as determined under section 40703 of this title.

(iii) A qualifying military offense, as determined under section 1565 of title 10.

(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a court order is not “final” if time remains for an appeal or application for discretionary review with respect to the order.

(2) By States (A) As a condition of access to the index described in subsection (a), a State shall promptly expunge from that index the DNA analysis of a person included in the index by that State if—

(i) the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each conviction of the person of an offense on the basis of which that analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned; or

(ii) the person has not been convicted of an offense on the basis of which that analysis was or could have been included in the index, and the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a court order is not “final” if time remains for an appeal or application for discretionary review with respect to the order.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, § 210304, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2069; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(1) [title I, § 120], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A–23; Pub. L. 106–546, § 6(b), Dec. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2733; Pub. L. 108–405, title II, § 203(a), (d), title III, § 302, Oct. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2269, 2270, 2272; Pub. L. 109–162, title X, § 1002, Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3084; Pub. L. 115–50, § 2(b), Aug. 18, 2017, 131 Stat. 1001.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 14132 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section. Some section numbers or references in amendment notes below reflect the classification of such sections or references prior to editorial reclassification.

Amendments2017—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 115–50 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “prepared by laboratories that— “(A) not later than 2 years after October 30, 2004, have been accredited by a nonprofit professional association of persons actively involved in forensic science that is nationally recognized within the forensic science community; and “(B) undergo external audits, not less than once every 2 years, that demonstrate compliance with standards established by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and”. 2006—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 109–162, § 1002(1), struck out “DNA profiles from arrestees who have not been charged in an indictment or information with a crime, and” after “provided that”. Subsec. (d)(1)(A). Pub. L. 109–162, § 1002(2), added subpar. (A) and struck out former subpar. (A), which read as follows: “The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall promptly expunge from the index described in subsection (a) of this section the DNA analysis of a person included in the index on the basis of a qualifying Federal offense or a qualifying District of Columbia offense (as determined under sections 14135a and 14135b of this title, respectively) if the Director receives, for each conviction of the person of a qualifying offense, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned.” Subsec. (d)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 109–162, § 1002(3), substituted “the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period.” for “all charges for which the analysis was or could have been included in the index have been dismissed or resulted in acquittal.” Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–162, § 1002(4), struck out heading and text of subsec. (e). Prior to amendment, text related to authority for keyboard searches. 2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–405, § 203(a)(1), substituted “of—” for “of persons convicted of crimes;” and added subpars (A) to (C). Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 108–405, § 302, amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “prepared by laboratories, and DNA analysts, that undergo semiannual external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting the standards issued under section 14131 of this title; and”. Subsec. (d)(2)(A). Pub. L. 108–405, § 203(a)(2)(B), (C), which directed that subsection (d)(2) be amended by substituting “; or” for period at end and by adding cl. (ii) at end, was executed by making the amendment to subpar. (A) of subsec. (d)(2) to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Pub. L. 108–405, § 203(a)(2)(A), substituted “if—” for “if” and inserted cl. (i) designation before “the responsible agency”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–405, § 203(d), added subsec. (e). 2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–546, § 6(b)(1), inserted “(or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10)” after “criminal justice agency”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106–546, § 6(b)(2), substituted “semiannual” for “, at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days,”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106–546, § 6(b)(3), inserted “(or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10)” after “criminal justice agencies” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106–546, § 6(b)(4), added subsec. (d). 1999—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 106–113 added par. (4).