North Carolina

Arrestees: Yes. But for warrantless arrests, collection cannot occur until probable cause is found by a magistrate.

Qualifying Crimes: Arrest for any enumerated Chapter 14 offense in §15A-266.3A(f), or for attempt, solicitation, conspiracy, or aiding and abetting any of them (subsection (g)) — homicide and assault: first and second degree murder (14-17), manslaughter (14-18), any felony in Article 6A (Unborn Victims), assault on executive, legislative, or court officers (14-16.6(b),(c)), the maiming and aggravated assault offenses at 14-28 through 14-34.10 (malicious castration and maiming, corrosive acid, secret assault, felonious assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a disabled person, patient abuse causing death, domestic abuse of disabled or elder adults, serious bodily injury or strangulation, habitual misdemeanor assault, discharging firearms into occupied property or from an enclosure, assaults on law enforcement, corrections, firefighting, EMS and emergency department personnel, adulterated food or drugs with intent to injure or extort), and assault on emergency personnel with a dangerous weapon (14-288.9); sex offenses: any offense in Article 7B, any offense requiring registration under Article 27A, and secret peeping (14-202); kidnapping and trafficking: any offense in Article 10 or 10A; burglary, arson, robbery, explosives: 14-51, 14-53, 14-54(a1), 14-54.1, 14-57, any offense in Article 15 (Arson), armed robbery (14-87), common law robbery (14-87.1), train robbery (14-88), and any offense in Article 13 (explosive or incendiary devices); stalking: cyberstalking (14-196.3) and stalking (14-277.3A); prison offenses: 14-258.2, 14-258.3, 14-258.4; child abuse: 14-318.4(a), (a3); weapons of mass destruction: 14-288.21, 14-288.22; animal offenses: 14-360(a1),(b) and killing a law enforcement, assistance, or search and rescue animal (14-163.1(a1)); and concealing a non-natural death by dismembering or destroying remains (14-401.22(e)).

Time of Collection: At arrest or when fingerprinted, by cheek swab unless a court order authorizes blood. For warrantless arrests, collection may not occur until a magistrate has made a probable cause determination at the initial appearance under §15A-511(c)(1). No sample is taken if one was previously obtained by lawful process, is in the State DNA Database, and has not been expunged. The person taking the sample must give the arrestee written notice of the expunction procedures.

Expungement: Prosecutor-initiated and automatic — since June 1, 2012 no request form or application is required. Within 30 days of a qualifying event the district attorney must verify it on an AOC form, record the defendant’s last known address, sign it (or obtain a judge’s signature where the court dismissed the charge or the defendant was acquitted), and transmit it to the Crime Laboratory. Qualifying events under (h)(1): the charge was dismissed; the defendant was acquitted; the defendant was convicted of a lesser-included misdemeanor not listed in (f) or (g); no charge was filed within the statute of limitations; or no conviction occurred, three years have passed since arrest, and no active prosecution is pending. Within 90 days of receiving the form the Crime Lab must confirm no other provision of law requires retention and that no qualifying offense from a different transaction or occurrence applies, then remove the DNA record, destroy any retained biological samples, and mail the defendant notice of either expunction or denial. The defendant may move the court to review a denial or a missed deadline. Physical evidence need not be destroyed where doing so would destroy evidence relating to another person. Any identification, warrant, probable cause to arrest, or arrest based on a database match occurring after the statutory expunction period is invalid and inadmissible (subsection (m)).

Statutes / Case Law

NCGS § 15A-266.2. Definitions

NCGS § 15A-266.4. DNA sample required for DNA analysis upon conviction or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity NCGS § 15A-266.3A. Sample Required for DNA Analysis upon Arrest for Certain Offenses § 15A-148. Expunction of Records

State v. Womble, 858 S.E.2d 304 (2021) (Statute that did not authorize automatic expunction of DNA records upon pardon of innocence and instead required defendant to petition for expungement was not unconstitutional as applied to defendant, who was charged with murder based, in part, on DNA profile developed from blood sample obtained during incarceration for murder for which he was later found innocent, under state constitution prohibiting deprivation of life, liberty or property but by “law of the land”).

State v. Jacobs, 128 N.C. App. 559 (1998). (“The purpose of the statute is to clear the public record of entries so that a person who is entitled to expunction may omit reference to the charges to potential employers and others, and so that a records check for prior arrests and convictions will not disclose the expunged entries. Neither the statute nor the order of expunction entered at defendant’s request requires the destruction of investigative files.”).

Legislative History

• HB 1050 (1993) → S.L. 1993-401, “The DNA Database and Databank Act of 1993.” Added Article 13 to Chapter 15A, creating the State DNA Database and Databank under SBI administration at G.S. 15A-266 et seq. The policy section at § 15A-266.1 framed the purpose as assisting federal, state, and local agencies in the identification, detection, or exclusion of individuals under investigation or prosecution for violent crimes against the person. Mandated collection from persons convicted of felonies. Post-conviction only — no arrestee provision, and no analog to what became § 15A-266.3A.
• HB 1403 (2010) → S.L. 2010-94, “The DNA Database Act of 2010,” signed July 15, 2010, effective February 1, 2011. Section 4 created G.S. 15A-266.3A, North Carolina’s first arrest-based collection mandate. Required cheek swab collection at arrest, or at the probable cause determination for warrantless arrests, for a defined list of serious offenses including murder, sex offenses, kidnapping, armed robbery, arson, and burglary. Restructured the State DNA Database to hold arrestee records alongside convicted-offender records, created the expunction process for dismissed or acquitted cases, upgraded unauthorized DNA disclosure from a misdemeanor to a Class H felony, and extended the mandate to juveniles transferred to superior court. Section 5 repealed a superseded provision effective the same date.
• SB 630 (2013) → S.L. 2013-171, effective December 1, 2013. A forensic-evidence housekeeping bill covering lab report admissibility and blood evidence disposition. Its single change to § 15A-266.3A, at Section 9, extended the SBI’s deadline to act on expunction verification forms from 30 days to 90 days.
• S.L. 2015-241, §§ 17.2–17.3 — the 2015 Appropriations Act, with the offense-list expansion effective December 1, 2015 and applying to arrests on or after that date. Section 17.3(a), captioned “COLLECT DNA/ALL VIOLENT FELONY ARRESTS,” substantially rewrote the § 15A-266.3A(f) offense list. Additions included assault with a deadly weapon on executive, legislative, or court officers; felony offenses under Article 6A (Unborn Victims); malicious throwing of corrosive acid; patient abuse and neglect causing death; domestic abuse of disabled or elder adults; habitual misdemeanor assault; assault on firefighters, EMTs, and emergency department personnel; discharging a firearm from within an enclosure; Article 10A human trafficking; Article 13 explosive and incendiary device offenses; breaking or entering a place of religious worship; common law and train robbery; assaulting a law enforcement or assistance animal; cyberstalking; secretly peeping; the prisoner conduct offenses at G.S. 14-258.2, 14-258.3 and 14-258.4; weapons of mass destruction offenses; child abuse inflicting serious injury; cruelty to animals; and concealing evidence of non-natural death by dismembering remains. Section 17.2 amended § 15A-266.5(c) to shift the Crime Laboratory’s annual reporting date from February 1 to September 1, move it to a fiscal-year basis, and add required metrics — arrestee records entered, arrestee records expunged, arrestee hits against unknown samples and how many led to arrest and conviction, and the number of expunction notification letters with days elapsed from receipt of the verification form. Section 17.3(b) directed the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety to study extending collection to persons arrested for any felony, with a timeline, cost estimates, and capital costs, reporting to the 2016 session.
• SB 768 (2018) → S.L. 2018-47, a General Statutes Commission “people first language” bill replacing “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” and making associated technical amendments. Section 4(n) amended § 15A-266.3A only to conform terminology — changing “handicapped person” to “an individual with a disability” in the G.S. 14-32.1(e) entry, and “This section shall apply” to “applies.” Section 4 elsewhere made the parallel change in the G.S. 14-32.1 reference in the related list.

• No program or law found. But, there is some evidence of use.
  • Funding request from US Congress in May 2025 for Gastonia Police Department for Rapid DNA.
  • Gastonia PD receives Rapid DNA system – DNA Evidence

• No program or law found. Although see the North Carolina Human Identification and Forensic Analysis Lab.

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD has run a multi-grant LODNA census/collection effort (FY2018 $452,637; FY2023 $900,000), uploading 977 profiles and working with 34 of 100 counties; collection authority under N.C.G.S. § 15A-266.4. SAKI – Charlotte · § 15A-266.4

• No program or law found.