Idaho

Recent / Pending Legislation

• SB 1226 (2026, enacted) – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions and requirements regarding collection of DNA samples and thumbprint impressions.

Arrestees: No. Not Booking Station Rapid Ready. There may be language that specifically prohibits arrestee collections. See Idaho Code Section 19-5506(2): “Absent consent or a warrant authorizing DNA collection based upon probable cause, no person shall be required to provide a DNA sample unless the person has been convicted of, or pleads guilty to, any felony crime, the attempt to commit any felony crime or any crime that requires sex offender registration…”

Convicted Offenders: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Conviction of (or guilty plea to) a “serious crime” as defined in Idaho Code § 19-5502(10) — any felony, an attempt to commit a felony, or any crime requiring sex offender registration under §§ 18-8304 and 18-8410. As amended in 2026 (S.B. 1226, ch. 40), the mandate extends to misdemeanor crimes qualifying as “serious crimes” for convictions or pleas on or after July 1, 2026; and absent consent or a probable-cause warrant, no one may be required to give a sample unless convicted of, or pleading guilty to, a serious crime. See Idaho Code § 19-5506(1)–(3).

Point of Collection: Sample is taken when: (i) After conviction or guilty plea but before sentencing upon application by the prosecuting attorney, the attorney general, or the Idaho state police upon a showing that early collection of such samples will be in the best interest of justice; (ii) during the intake process at facility or as soon as practicable (and, in any event, prior to final discharge, parole, furlough, or release from imprisonment or confinement); (iii) if the person bypasses a prison inmate reception center, then prior to physical release from custody; if the person is not incarcerated at the time of sentencing, then the court shall order the person to report within 10 working days to the collection facility; when the state accepts an offender from another state and the offender is not confined, then within 10 working days after reporting to the supervising agent or of notice to the offender, whichever occurs first; when the state accepts an offender from another state and the offender is confined, then as soon as practicable after receipt in a state or county correctional facility (and in any event, before completion of the person’s term of imprisonment). Any person subject to DNA collection who has not otherwise provided a sample shall provide a sample within 10 working days of notification of the requirement to produce a sample

Expungement: The Idaho State Police must expunge the DNA sample and all identifiable database and databank information relating to the conviction upon receipt of a court order verifying that the applicant made the required showing at a noticed hearing (that the conviction was reversed and the case dismissed), together with: (a) a written expungement request under the statute; (b) a certified copy of the order reversing and dismissing the conviction; (c) proof of written notice to the prosecuting attorney and the bureau of forensic services that expungement is being sought; and (d) a court order finding that no retrial or appeal is pending, confirming that at least sixty (60) days have passed since that notice, and finding no interests-of-justice reason to deny expungement.

Statutes / Case Law

• Idaho Stat. § 19-5503. Responsibility For Managing DNA Program – Bureau of Forensic Services
• 19-5506. Scope of law–Offenders subject to sample collection–Early collection of samples—Restitution
• 19-5507. Responsibility for sample collection–Timing of sample collection–Site for sample collection
• 19-5510. Applicability of chapter
• 19-5513 Expungement of information

Legislative History

• HB 75 (1997) — enacted as 1997 Idaho Sess. Laws ch. 120, approved March 17, 1997. Created Idaho’s DNA program from scratch, adding Chapter 55 to Title 19 (“The Idaho DNA and Genetic Marker Database Act of 1996,” §§ 19-5501–19-5518). Placed the database and databank under the Department of Law Enforcement’s Bureau of Forensic Services as CODIS liaison; required samples and right thumbprint impressions from persons convicted of 22 enumerated sex and violent crimes plus 14 attempt offenses, including juveniles tried as adults and regardless of withheld judgment; applied retroactively to those already incarcerated or on probation/parole. Authorized database matches to support probable cause for an arrest warrant, permitted reasonable force against resisting inmates, made refusal a felony, limited expungement to reversal and dismissal at the court’s discretion, and added a public-records exemption at § 9-340(47).
• HB 660 (2000) — enacted as 2000 Sess. Laws ch. 469, § 46, signed April 17, 2000, effective July 1, 2000. Omnibus agency reorganization renaming the Department of Law Enforcement as the Idaho State Police. Section 46 amended § 19-5503 to substitute ISP as the agency responsible for the DNA database, databank, and CODIS liaison, with parallel substitutions elsewhere in Chapter 55. No substantive change to collection.
• HB 520 (2004) — enacted as 2004 Sess. Laws ch. 157, signed and effective March 23, 2004 (emergency clause). Added felony burglary and felony domestic violence to the qualifying crimes in § 19-5506, defined “DNA analysis” in § 19-5502, and created the DNA-analysis restitution scheme — courts must order restitution absent a finding it is inappropriate, capped at $500 per sample analysis and $2,000 aggregate, owed regardless of whose sample it was or whether the results were used, payable to ISP, local law enforcement, the AG, and prosecutors.
• SB 1197 (2005) — enacted as 2005 Sess. Laws ch. 327, § 1, signed April 6, 2005, effective July 1, 2005 (prospective only). Added roughly 50 felonies to § 19-5506, expanding the qualifying list from about 24 offenses to 61, with a parallel attempt list. New coverage spanned weapons and explosives offenses, terrorism offenses, additional child sexual offenses, poisoning, aircraft hijacking, first-degree stalking, malicious harassment, and property-destruction felonies. The Statement of Purpose described the bill as capturing “the remaining felonies falling into the categories of ‘violent’ or ‘sexual.’”
• SB 1067 (2011) — enacted as 2011 Sess. Laws ch. 211, signed April 6, 2011; DNA provisions effective July 1, 2013, with funding effective July 1, 2012. The all-felony bill and the most consequential change since 1997. Struck the entire enumerated list of 61 qualifying crimes and 51 attempt offenses from § 19-5506 and replaced it with a universal trigger: any conviction or guilty plea to any felony, or the attempt to commit any felony. Also amended §§ 19-5501, 19-5502, and 19-5507 to conform findings, definitions, and collection procedures — including interstate-compact offenders — to the felony standard.
• SB 1215 (2012) — enacted as 2012 Sess. Laws ch. 82, § 3. A prisoner-contraband bill that repealed § 18-2511 and recodified it as a new § 18-2510. Section 3 amended § 19-5506 (expressly the 2005 version, still operative because the 2011 rewrite had not yet taken effect) solely to update the cross-reference for qualifying crime item (20) from § 18-2511 to § 18-2510(3). Cross-reference conformity only.
• SB 1337 (2012) — enacted as 2012 Sess. Laws ch. 269, § 6. A sexual-exploitation-of-a-child bill that rewrote § 18-1507 and repealed § 18-1507A by folding it into § 18-1507. Section 6 amended § 19-5506 to change qualifying crime item (15) from “possession of sexually exploitive material for other than a commercial purpose (§ 18-1507A)” to “sexual exploitation of a child (§ 18-1507).” Cross-reference conformity only.
• SB 1240 (2014) — enacted as 2014 Sess. Laws ch. 263, § 1. The Fourth Amendment guardrail. Added § 19-5506(2), barring any required DNA collection absent a probable-cause warrant unless the person has been convicted of or pled guilty to a felony or attempted felony. This expressly forecloses arrestee/pre-conviction DNA collection in Idaho — a deliberate choice not to follow the arrestee-collection route validated in Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013).
• SB 1088 (2017) — enacted as 2017 Sess. Laws ch. 213. Extended the § 19-5506 mandate beyond felonies to any crime requiring sex offender registration under §§ 18-8304 and 18-8410, capturing non-felony registrable offenses and out-of-state registrants, and applied the same reach to the retroactive provision. Added consent as an alternative to a warrant in the 2014 limiting subsection, and relieved collection facilities of collecting a duplicate sample where one already exists in the Idaho database. Section 2 amended § 19-5507 to add a verification duty for collection facilities and sex offender registration locations.
• SB 1226 (2026) — enacted as 2026 Sess. Laws ch. 40, signed March 17, 2026, effective July 1, 2026. Passed 34-0 in the Senate and 68-0 in the House. Created a new § 19-2512A requiring courts to order DNA and thumbprint collection at plea, conviction, or sentencing, and defined “serious crime” in § 19-5502 as any felony, any attempted felony, any registrable sex offense, misdemeanor domestic violence (§ 18-918), or sexual battery (§ 18-924) — the first time Idaho’s mandate reaches specified misdemeanors, applied prospectively to pleas and convictions on or after July 1, 2026. Rekeyed § 19-5506 to the “serious crime” standard, repealed and replaced § 19-5507 with a court-order-centered collection framework, and repealed § 19-5510.

No program or law found.

No program or law found.

FGG use for Brian Kohberger Case

• ISP has a formal Lawfully Owed DNA program. It breaks down LODNA collection sites across the state at different sheriff’s offices.
  • Here is statewide LODNA reporting.
• ISP Bulletin/Memo on April 10, 2026 – SB 1226 (2026, enacted) instituted changes to DNA Collection Act to address problems that led to thousands of convicted felons not having their lawfully owed collections performed. Read here.
  • See SB 1266 and recent legislative changes.
• Lawfully Owed DNA Collection Legislation Info Sheet – strong pressure to collect immediately and instruct collection for expanded offenses.
• Idaho Stat. § 19-5507 provides the specificity in collection timing and deadlines. It was recently amended by SB 1226 (2026, enacted). This act further reinforces the timeliness of collection under Idaho law after conviction or guilty plea. It strengthens §19-5507’s expectations on how fast a DNA sample should be collected for a larger swath of crimes. ISP produced a helpful memo on SB 1226’s changes. See below for specific changes:
  • One (IC 19-5507 (2)), a motion can be made by a Prosecutor for an order to collect DNA prior to sentencing.
  • Two (IC 19-5507 (3)(a)), subjects in custody must provide a DNA sample at the facility they are incarcerated in OR (for those not in custody) the court orders collection from an Idaho State Police designated collection site in the appropriate county.
  • Three (IC 19-5507 (3)(b)), for those committed to county jails or other local detention facilities, the court shall order collection by those facilities no later than 10 days after the subject’s arrival at the facility.
  • Four (IC 19-5507(3)(c)), for those committed to an IDOC facility, DNA collection will be made by IDOC no later than 10 days after arrival at that facility.

Idaho State Police has and operates a standalone Lawfully Owed DNA program.

No program or law.