April 2, 2002
Kentucky's comprehensive DNA act. Created KRS 422.285, allowing a person sentenced to death to move for DNA testing of evidence in the Commonwealth's custody, with standards for granting testing and for relief where results are exculpatory; added a companion provision permitting either the Commonwealth or the defendant to move for testing during a capital trial where evidence was never tested, and a new KRS Chapter 17 section setting probative-value standards and a fee structure giving the prosecution and the defense five tests each at state expense. Amended KRS 17.170 to replace blood-only collection with "a sample of blood, an oral swab, or sample obtained through a noninvasive procedure," to grant civil immunity to authorized collectors following approved procedures, and to make tampering with a DNA sample a Class D felony. Added new KRS Chapter 17 sections extending collection to persons convicted of sexual offenses, assault offenses, and capital or serious-injury felonies, and to juveniles adjudicated under those provisions, with an implementation timeline contingent on funding. Amended KRS 17.175 (the centralized DNA database) covering use restrictions and expungement on reversed convictions, and added a KRS Chapter 524 section requiring preservation of biological evidence before and after trial. Signed by the Governor April 2, 2002; effective July 15, 2002.