Minnesota

Arrestees: No. An expansion to the collection mandating that included arrestees was struck down by Minnesota courts (see In re Welfare of CTL).

Convicted Offenders: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Any felony — Minn. Stat. § 609.117, subd. 1, requires a specimen when a person charged with a felony is convicted of that offense or of any offense arising out of the same set of circumstances. (The former enumerated list — murder, manslaughter, assault, robbery, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, criminal sexual conduct, incest, burglary, indecent exposure, and attempts — reflected the pre-2005 statute.) If a juvenile is adjudicated delinquent for committing or attempting a crime that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the above, they will be subject to DNA collection. Convictions pursuant to which the defendant is sentenced as a “patterned sex offender”

Time of Collection: If not taken at arrest, upon sentencing or adjudication or before release from a prison term served for a qualifying underlying conviction

Expungement: A petition may be filed to seal records if there has been a time period after release, depending on the type of crime underlying the conviction. Other than pursuant to the above, upon petition and hearing whereby the defendant presents clear and convincing evidence that expungement will yield a benefit to the defendant commensurate with the disadvantages to the public and public safety. Records are sealed, but not deleted, and may be reopened in certain instances.

Statutes / Case Law

§ 609.117 DNA Analysis of Certain Offenders Required

§ 609A.02 Grounds for Order

§ 609A.03 Petition to Expunge Criminal Records al records

In re Welfare of M.L.M., 813 N.W.2d 26, 28 (Minn. 2012) (upholding DNA collection when convicted of a misdemeanor arising out of the same set of circumstances as a felony).

State v. Bartylla, 755 N.W.2d 8 (Minn. 2008) (DNA in the database collected properly for a past conviction may be used to match to unknown DNA collected from crime scene without violating the Fourth Amendment).

Legislative History

• HF 59 (1989) → 1989 Minn. Laws, Ch. 290 Created both pillars of Minnesota’s DNA program in a single omnibus criminal law bill. Art. 4, Sec. 16 established §609.3461 (later §609.117), requiring courts to order offenders convicted of criminal sexual conduct (§§609.342–609.345) to provide a biological specimen for DNA analysis. Art. 4, Sec. 7 established §299C.155, directing the BCA to develop uniform DNA evidence collection protocols and maintain a centralized cross-reference database, with all data classified as private and accessible only for law enforcement purposes.
• HF 345 (1991) → 1991 Minn. Laws, Ch. 232 A sexual abuse statute-of-limitations bill that also restructured §609.3461 by formally dividing it into two subdivisions. Added Subd. 2 (Before Release) as a new backstop enforcement mechanism: if a qualifying sex offender committed to DOC custody had not provided a DNA specimen at sentencing, the commissioner of corrections or local corrections authority must order collection before the person completes their term of imprisonment.
• SF 371 (1991) → 1991 Minn. Laws, Ch. 285 A broader child protection and sex offender bill — also establishing Minnesota’s first sex offender address registration system (§243.166) — that amended §609.3461 to expressly extend DNA collection to persons sentenced as patterned sex offenders under §609.1352. Also extended the DNA collection requirement to juvenile delinquency adjudications for qualifying offenses.
• HF 1585 (1993) → 1993 Minn. Laws, Ch. 326 Large omnibus crime prevention bill (drive-by shootings, firearms, registration). Art. 10, Sec. 15 and Art. 13, Sec. 32 tightened the DNA collection trigger: clarified that collection is required when a person is charged with a qualifying sex offense and convicted of that offense or any offense arising out of the same set of circumstances — ensuring DNA collection even when someone pleads to a lesser charge from the same incident.
• SF 3345 (1998) → 1998 Minn. Laws, Ch. 367 Omnibus crime prevention and judiciary finance bill. Art. 3, Secs. 12–13 expanded the DNA mandate to two new offense categories: first-degree murder (§609.185 cl. 2) and indecent exposure (§617.23 subd. 3 cl. 2). Also expanded “Before Release” collection to cover offenders serving time in Minnesota under reciprocal interstate agreements from another state for qualifying offenses. Art. 6, Sec. 15 made cross-reference corrections as part of a broader sentencing recodification.
• SF 2221 (1999) → 1999 Minn. Laws, Ch. 216 The most significant expansion in the statute’s history. Art. 3, Secs. 7–8 rewrote §609.3461 to require DNA collection for all convicted felons — expanding far beyond sex offenses to include murder, manslaughter, assault, robbery, kidnapping, arson, burglary, and other felonies. Art. 3, Sec. 9 directed the revisor to renumber §609.3461 as §609.117, giving the statute its current citation. Subject to a partial governor’s line-item veto.
• SF 7 (2001 1st Spec. Sess.) → 2001 1st Spec. Sess., Ch. 8 Part of a large omnibus public safety/domestic abuse bill. Art. 9, Sec. 6 amended §609.117 Subd. 2 (Before Release) to extend collection to any person currently serving imprisonment for, or with a past conviction for, a qualifying felony — capturing inmates serving time for newer crimes who had uncollected DNA from prior felony convictions. Subject to a governor’s line-item veto.
• HF 1 (2005) → 2005 Minn. Laws, Ch. 136 Omnibus public safety finance bill (passed 131–3 in the House, 62–4 in the Senate). Art. 12, Sec. 9 replaced the prior enumerated list of specific felony types with a clean universal mandate: DNA collection required whenever a person is charged with any felony offense and convicted of that offense or any arising from the same circumstances. This eliminated the need to match offenses against a specific list. Also added “if an offender has not already done so” to prevent duplicative collection.
• HF 2996 (2008) → 2008 Minn. Laws, Ch. 299 Sexual offender provisions bill (passed 132–0 in the House, 61–2 in the Senate). Added Subd. 3 — when Minnesota accepts an offender from another state under the interstate compact (§243.1605), DNA collection is a mandatory condition of acceptance for any offender initially charged with and convicted of a felony. Specimen must be collected within 15 business days of the offender reporting to the supervising agent, with costs borne by the supervising agency.

No law or program.

No program or law found.

No program or law found.

City of Duluth PD used FY2020 SAKI funds to build an offender census for Duluth/St. Louis County, collect owed samples, and track outcomes. https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/2019-ak-bx-0003

No program or law found.