Georgia

• SB 29 (2025/6, died) – Ashley Spence Act.” Would have amended O.C.G.A. §35-3-160 to require DNA collection from anyone arrested for a “serious violent felony” as defined in §17-10-6.1 — murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, and aggravated sexual battery, not aggravated assault or burglary — taken by the arresting officer or at booking, with the sample withheld until a judge or grand jury makes a probable cause determination if the arrest was warrantless. The state would furnish postage-prepaid kits and pay all testing costs, with samples transported to the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences within 15 days. It also overhauled expungement under §35-3-165, requiring purge within 30 days on dismissal, acquittal, reduction of all felony charges to misdemeanors, first-offender completion, or expiration of the statute of limitations, with the clerk of court obligated to forward documentation within 30 days. Effective only July 1, 2028 and only if funds were specifically appropriated.
• SB 116 (2026, died) – Would have amended §35-3-160 to require DNA collection from an individual in a detention facility who is charged with a misdemeanor or felony and subject to an immigration detainer notice under §42-1-11.5 — and only if ICE fails to take custody within 48 hours of detention, excluding weekends and holidays. All three conditions had to be met; the bill did not reach misdemeanor arrestees generally. It also expanded the definition of “detention facility” to include county jails and municipal detention facilities, and preserved the existing carve-out barring collection based on a misdemeanor charge alone.

Arrestees: No.

Recent legislation: SB 29 (died on April 2, 2026). Arrestees charged with certain qualifying felonies (murder, armed robbery, rape, aggravated assault, burglary) must submit DNA at booking. But if an individual is arrested without a warrant, the bill stipulates that DNA sample cannot be taken until a formal probable cause determination has been made by a judge or grand jury.

Convicted Offenders: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Collection is limited to the felonies listed below; misdemeanor convictions do not qualify.

• 1. Someone who has been convicted of a felony and is currently incarcerated in a detention facility, serving a probation sentence, or serving under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for such felony;
• 2. Someone who has been charged with a felony, and sentence for such offense has been imposed pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 42 (First Offender probation) or pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) of Code Section 16-13-2 (conditional discharge for certain drug/property offenses); See HB 470 (2019)
• 3. Who has been convicted of a felony and is subject to an immigration detainer notice.

Time of Collection: Within the first 30 days of incarceration, at the receiving unit of the detention facility (or another place the Department of Corrections designates); or, in the 12 months preceding release, at the place the department designates.

Expungement: Occurs within 30 days after receipt of a certified copy of one of the following: (i) a court order reversing the conviction, together with an order or documentation showing the charges were dismissed; (ii) a judgment of acquittal; (iii) a sentencing order showing all felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors; or (iv) a court order showing successful completion of a first-offender sentence (O.C.G.A. Title 42, Ch. 8, Art. 3) or of a § 16-13-2 first-time drug offender conditional discharge. See O.C.G.A. § 35-3-165(a)(4).

Statutes / Case Law

• GA. ST. § 35-3-160. Samples required; storage in DNA data bank
• 35-3-161. Time and procedures for withdrawal of samples
• 35-3-165. Expungement of records
• Padgett v. Donald, 401 F.3d 1273 (11th Cir. 2005) (Georgia statute requiring extraction of saliva from incarcerated felons pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 24–4–60 (old version of § 35-3-160) for DNA profiling did not violate prisoners’ rights to privacy under the Georgia Constitution and Fourteenth Amendment).
• Padgett v. Ferrero, 294 F.Supp.2d 1338 (N.D. Ga. 2003) aff’d 401 F.3d 1273, cert. denied 126 S. Ct. 352, 546 U.S. 820 (Georgia statute requiring DNA sampling of all convicted felons was not invalid as an unreasonable search and seizure and does not violate felons’ privacy rights, the ex post facto clause or due process requirements).
• U.S. v. Hinton, 113 F. Supp. 3d 1277, 1283-85 (N.D. Ga., 2015) (because defendant was incarcerated and deemed a convicted felon during his incarceration, even as a first offender, Georgia’s DNA Act required prison officials to take defendant’s DNA’s sample, which does not violate the Fourth Amendment)
• U.S. v. Hinton, 676 Fed. Appx. 842, 2017 WL 191930 (2017) (Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s creation of defendant’s DNA profile following prior felony offense and retention in database after his incarceration ended, and the running of comparison to other DNA profiles after his release constituted reasonably searches under the Fourth Amendment).
• Quarterman v. State, 282 Ga. 383, 386, 651 S.E.2d 32, 35 (2007) (The privilege against self-incrimination in the United States Constitution does not protect an individual from government compulsion to provide blood or other biological samples)

Legislative History

• SB 594 (1992) — enacted as Ga. L. 1992, p. 2035, approved April 17, 1992. Created Georgia’s DNA data bank for the first time, adding Article 4 to Chapter 4 of Title 24 (former § 24-4-60 et seq.). Required a blood sample for DNA analysis from anyone convicted of specified sex offenses (rape, sodomy, statutory rape, child molestation, enticing a child, sexual assault against a person in custody, bestiality, necrophilia, incest), drawn within 30 days of incarceration or as a condition of probation. Established the DNA data bank at the GBI’s Division of Forensic Sciences, set confidentiality protections, authorized expungement when a conviction is reversed and dismissed, and criminalized unauthorized use of data bank information.
• SB 318 (2000) — enacted as Ga. L. 2000, p. 1071 (Act 738).
• First expansion beyond sex offenders: added any person convicted of a felony and entering a state prison on or after July 1, 2000. Also covered felons already incarcerated for a pre-2000 conviction (sampled before release) and inmates of private correctional facilities under DOC contract. Authorized oral swabs or other noninvasive samples as alternatives to blood, let defendants ask a court to have the GBI compare an independent DNA profile against the data bank, and allowed the GBI director to choose which offenses to analyze if funding was not appropriated. Upheld in Padgett v. Donald, 401 F.3d 1273 (11th Cir. 2005), and Quarterman v. State (Ga. Sept. 24, 2007, No. S07A0659).
• HB 95 (2005) — enacted as Ga. L. 2005, p. 60, § 24. Georgia’s annual Code-revision act. Section 24 only moved the definition of “state correctional facility” into a new subsection (a) of § 24-4-60. It made no change to who must give a sample; probation detention centers and boot camps remained excluded. Technical only.
• HB 314 (2007) — enacted as Ga. L. 2007, p. 408, § 1, effective July 1, 2007. First expansion of collection beyond incarceration, to certain felony probationers. Limited to specific offense categories: crimes against persons, sex offenses, burglary, robbery, armed robbery, impersonating an officer, obstruction of an officer, dangerous instrumentalities, and controlled substances.
• SB 80 (2011) — enacted as Ga. L. 2011, p. 264, § 3-1 (Act No. 67), the “Johnia Berry Act.” Required DNA from all convicted felons, not just designated categories, whether incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. Applied to anyone convicted before July 1, 2011 who was still in one of those statuses. Moved the DNA provisions out of Title 24 into the current Article 6A (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-160 et seq.), with a second step tied to Georgia’s new Evidence Code taking effect in 2013.
• HB 470 (2019) — enacted as Ga. L. 2019, p. 299, § 1 (Act No. 70), effective April 28, 2019. Added a collection trigger for people charged with a felony but sentenced as first offenders (O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 et seq.) or under the drug first-offender provisions (§ 16-13-2(a)/(c)), meaning DNA can be required even without a formal conviction. Misdemeanors are expressly excluded. Samples are now taken by oral swab or other noninvasive method only, and blood draws were dropped. Expanded “detention facility” to include county correctional facilities, and broadened expungement to cover acquittals, felonies reduced to misdemeanors, and completed first-offender sentences.

• No program or law found. In addition, Georgia is not an arrestee state yet. So, booking station collection and analysis via Rapid DNA are not possible.
• Some use at Savannah State University for student teaching forensics students.

• No program or law found.

• No program or law found.

• No program or law found.