Administering Entity
Rhode Island State Police Crime Laboratory
Recent / Pending Legislation
S 2203 (2026, pending) – Genetic Information Privacy Act – consent needed for certain uses.
Arrestees: Yes, from adults only. Not Booking Station Rapid ready; probable cause/charges required.
Qualifying Crimes: Any crime of violence, including: murder; manslaughter; first-degree arson; kidnapping with intent to extort; robbery; larceny from the person; first- and second-degree sexual assault; first- and second-degree child molestation; assault with intent to murder, to rob, or to commit first-degree sexual assault; burglary; and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny.
Time of Collection: At booking — but the sample may not be tested or placed in the database before arraignment unless (1) a court affirmatively found probable cause after a hearing, or (2) the defendant was released and failed to appear, or escaped custody, before appearing before a judicial officer. No sample is taken where a sufficient one is already on file.
Expungement: Automatic in seven situations: (1) the charge lacked probable cause; (2) the arrest produced no charge; (3) the state voluntarily dismissed the charge; (4) a court dismissed it; (5) the trial ended in a not-guilty verdict; (6) a conviction was vacated or reversed and the state neither retried the defendant nor prevailed on appeal; or (7) the case ended in a plea or conviction on a lesser offense that would not trigger DNA sampling. Also available by written request after completion of a diversion program or a deferred-sentence term, or the granting of a pardon.
Statutes / Case Law
RI Gen.Laws 1956, § 12-1.5-2. Definitions
§ 12-1.5-3. Powers and duties of the department of health
§ 12-1.5-4. State DNA Database
§ 12–1.5–8. DNA Sample Required upon Arrest or Conviction for Any Crime of Violence
§ 12–1.5–9. Procedures For Withdrawal, Collection and Transmission of DNA Samples.
§ 12–1.5–13. Expungement
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.3. Definitions
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.6. State of Rhode Island DNA Databank
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.10. Expungement
Convicted Offenders: Yes.
Qualifying Crimes: Any felony, plus crimes of violence: murder; manslaughter; first-degree arson; kidnapping with intent to extort; robbery; larceny from the person; first- and second-degree sexual assault; first- and second-degree child molestation; assault with intent to murder, to rob, or to commit first-degree sexual assault; burglary; and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny.
Time of Collection: Before release, for those incarcerated; otherwise as a condition of the sentence. No sample is taken where a sufficient one is already on file.
Expungement: By written request from the person sampled, with a copy of the certified court order, where the conviction was reversed. The record shall be expunged from the state DNA identification database upon the vacating or the reversal of a conviction in which the state does not retry the defendant or appeal the decision, or. loses such appeal upon hearing, or upon any plea or conviction of a lesser offense that would not give rise to the mandatory DNA sampling. The prosecuting attorney is required to notify the department of health of any such event for purposes of expunging the person’s DNA record within 30 days of an event listed above. The department shall then destroy and expunge the sample within 30 days of receiving such notification and notify the individual of such action. By written request of the person whose sample was collected, and completion of a program of diversion or the completion of the term of a sentence of deferment, or of the granting of a pardon. Upon official proof (such as a certified copy of a death certificate) that the person has been deceased for at least 3 years
Statutes / Case Law
RI Gen. Laws 1956, § 12-1.5-2. Definitions
§ 12–1.5–3. Powers and Duties of the Department of Health
§ 12–1.5–4. State DNA Database
§ 12–1.5–5. State DNA Databank
§ 12–1.5–8. DNA sample required upon arrest or conviction for any crime of violence
§ 12–1.5–13. Expungement R.I. Admin. Code
§ 60-05-2.3. Definitions
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.6. State of Rhode Island DNA Databank
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.10. Expungement
Legislative History
- 98-H 7184 am (1998) → P.L. 1998, ch. 33, enacted June 29, 1998. Added Chapter 12-1.5 to Title 12, “DNA Detection of Sexual and Violent Offenders.” The policy section at § 12-1.5-1 declared DNA databanks and databases important tools in criminal investigations, in excluding subjects of investigation, and in deterring and detecting recidivism, and established a databank and database containing samples and records of individuals convicted of certain sexual and violent offenses and of missing persons.
- 98-S 2276A (1998) → P.L. 1998, ch. 120, enacted July 3, 1998. The Senate companion, enacted four days later with identical Chapter 12-1.5 text. Rhode Island passed both chambers’ versions into law rather than substituting one for the other, so the chapter has two 1998 enacting public laws.
- 2001-S 187A am (2001) → P.L. 2001, ch. 42, enacted June 29, 2001. Retitled the chapter from “DNA Detection of Sexual and Violent Offenders” to “DNA Detection of Felony Offenders” and amended §§ 12-1.5-1 and 12-1.5-7 to reach crimes of violence as defined in § 11-47-2. Section 3 made the act effective only upon receipt by the state of funding by the federal government — a contingency that left it dormant.
- 2004-S 2921 (2004) → P.L. 2004, ch. 391, enacted July 5, 2004, with House companion H 7290 → P.L. 2004, ch. 455, enacted July 7, 2004. Amended §§ 12-1.5-1 and 12-1.5-7 to extend the databank from the enumerated sexual and violent offense list to any felony as defined in the general laws, effective upon passage. This pair, rather than the funding-contingent 2001 act, is the all-felony expansion that carries through into the operative statute — though the sections still print with a “[Contingent effective date — see note]” designation reflecting the unresolved 2001 condition.
- 2014-S 2101 Substitute B (2014) → P.L. 2014, ch. 176, enacted June 24, 2014, effective July 1, 2015. Amended §§ 12-1.5-1, 12-1.5-2, 12-1.5-4, 12-1.5-7, 12-1.5-8, 12-1.5-13 and 12-1.5-17. Added individuals arrested for any crime of violence as defined in § 12-1.5-2 as a database category alongside convicted felony offenders, and required at § 12-1.5-7(b) that every such person have a sample taken at the time of booking and be notified of expungement rights under § 12-1.5-13 at or near the time of collection. Expanded § 12-1.5-13 so that expungement follows not only reversal of conviction but also a plea or conviction of a lesser offense that would not itself trigger mandatory sampling, and required the department to identify profiles that should not be in the database and take the steps necessary to expunge them.
- 2023-H 5435 Substitute A (2023) → P.L. 2023, ch. 354, enacted June 26, 2023. Added § 12-1.5-19, “DNA offender audit,” requiring the state crime laboratory under chapter 12-1.2 to audit offender profiles in the databank to identify profiles missing that should have been collected, with the laboratory supporting the effort as necessary to meet report deadlines, and to report to the General Assembly.
No program or law identified.
No program or law identified.
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No program or law identified.