Governor signs bill expanding DNA collection in Iowa

Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law Wednesday a pair of bill he said will use modern technology to make Iowa safer and state government more efficient.

In one case, technology will save the state money and reduce the amount of “wasted time” Iowans spend standing in line at motor vehicle stations to renew driver's licenses, the governor said as he signed House File 355.

In the case of House File 527, Branstad said collecting DNA samples from Iowans convicted of less-serious crimes classified as aggravated misdemeanors will help law enforcement solve crimes and, potentially, exonerate Iowans falsely accused of crime. It was approved 29-20 in the Senate and 82-15 in the House.

Attorney General Tom Miller welcomed the new law as a “natural, logical extension of what we've seen before to make our state safer and to make the criminal justice system more accurate.”

HF 355, which Branstad called “another step forward with modern technology,” may have an impact on more Iowans than DNA collections. The option, which should be available this summer, will allow drivers between the ages of 18 and 72 years to renew their Iowa operator's licenses electronically every other time.

In addition to reducing wait time for Iowans, electronic renewal should save the state Department of Transportation an estimated $1.2 million in road-use tax funds through efficiencies.

The DOT estimates about 35 percent of Iowa drivers will choose the online option, saving them about $3 million a year in time and travel.

“I call this economic development,” Mikel Derby, DOT lobbyist, said. “That's money they can spend on something else and it makes life better.”

Lawmakers passed similar language last session, but it was vetoed by Branstad because he objected to language unrelated to the licensing change.

Currently, licenses are issued and renewed at 81 county treasurer's offices and 19 DOT driver's license stations.

HF 355 requires Iowans who have vision impairments or who seek to change a vision restriction on their license to renew it in person.

Attorney General Miller predicted that a significant number of cases will be solved by the expanded use of DNA. In New York where they began collecting samples from people convicted of aggravated misdemeanors in 2006 there have been 965 matches, 51 of which were murder cases.

Responding civil liberties concerns that DNA sampling will be costly, expand state bureaucracy, expose thousands of Iowans to due process and privacy risks, and impact minorities more heavily than whites, Miller said it's a “reasonable expansion of a non-intrusive requirement.”

The Legislative Services Agency estimates the new law will cost the state's general fund about $327,000 each of the next two fiscal years. The bulk of the cost is for 7,000 test kits and the equivalent of two full-time positions at the Department of Public Safety. Salary and benefits for an entry-level criminalist is $71,000 a year.

DNA testing is not infallible and by dramatically increasing the number of DNA samples the state collects, the likelihood of error will increase, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.

The ACLU also is concerned that the state will store the samples forever and has questions about with whom they will be shared and for what other purposes they might be used.

Once in the system, it makes sense to keep the DNA samples in the system, Miller said.

“It gives a protection to society to do that and there aren't a lot of errors with DNA,” Miller said. “The Civil Liberties Union should be aware on that focus on that.”

Current law requires persons with a deferred judgment or conviction for a felony -- as well as sexually violent predators and sex offenders -- to submit a DNA sample for profiling.

HF 527 expands that to include people convicted of aggravated misdemeanors including assaults, thefts and multiple drunken driving convictions. There are exemptions for cases involving deferred judgment or juveniles and misdemeanors related to gambling, hazardous waste, agricultural productions and other offenses.

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