U.S. Virgin Islands

No recent or pending legislation identified.

Arrestees: Yes, for persons charged with a qualifying offense (§ 4203); refusal carries up to a $1,000 fine and 5 years.

Qualifying Crimes: A “designated offender” ( 4201) is anyone charged with or convicted of any felony, any violent crime, or any misdemeanor sexual offense.

Convicted Offenders: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: All felonies are covered; among misdemeanors, only sexual offenses.

Statutes/Case Law: 5 V.I.C. §§ 4201, 4203 (ch. 345, Virgin Islands DNA Database and Databank).

Legislative History

• Bill No. 28-0149 (28th Leg., Reg. Sess. 2010) — Act No. 7193, Sess. L. 2010, pp. 143–150, “An Act amending title 5 V.I.C., adding chapter 345 to establish the Virgin Islands DNA Database and Databank” (passed July 26, 2010; vetoed Aug. 20, 2010; enacted over the Governor’s veto Sept. 20, 2010, becoming law on the override date). Created 5 V.I.C. ch. 345 in its entirety (§§ 4201–4211), establishing the Database and Databank in the Department of Justice under a Governor-appointed Director, with the Attorney General serving until an appointment is made. Collection under § 4203 reached “designated offenders” — persons convicted and sentenced for any felony, violent crime, or misdemeanor sexual offense, plus those incarcerated at enactment and those on probation, parole, or supervised release — and was blood-based, with § 4204(b) limiting collectors to medical personnel, § 4204(d) requiring blood vials and collection tubes, § 4204(c) charging non-indigent offenders the cost, and § 4203(e) [now (f)] punishing refusal by up to $1,000 and/or five years. Remaining sections cover analysis and outsourcing to independent labs (§ 4205), quality assurance and lab audit (§ 4206), confidentiality and disclosure (§ 4207), penalties for unauthorized disclosure and tampering (§ 4208), expungement (§ 4209), post-conviction DNA testing petitions (§ 4210), and severability (§ 4211).
• Bill No. 29-0239 (29th Leg., Reg. Sess. 2012) — Act No. 7372, Sess. L. 2012, pp. 121–151, the SORNA-compliance rewrite of 14 V.I.C. ch. 86 (passed June 28, 2012; approved July 18, 2012, G29-0011; effective on approval per Section 16). Amended §§ 1721–1730 and added §§ 1721A, 1721B, 1724A, 1732, and 1733, enacted expressly to avoid the 10% Byrne JAG reduction. Section 9 struck and replaced § 1726(b), adding 1726(b)(3): a registrant not already in CODIS must give a DNA sample “forwarded to an appropriate lab for analysis and the resulting DNA profile entered into CODIS,” alongside digitized finger and palm prints under (b)(6). The mandate sits entirely in title 14 with no cross-reference to ch. 345, leaving custody, quality assurance, and expungement of these samples outside that framework.
• Bill No. 29-0444 (29th Leg., Reg. Sess. 2012) — Act No. 7458, §§ 5–6, Sess. L. 2012, pp. 412–415, an omnibus insurance act also “amending title 14 relating to the registration of sex offenders” (passed Nov. 20, 2012; became law Dec. 14, 2012). Amended 14 V.I.C. §§ 1724 and 1726 five months after Act 7372, substituting written notice for in-person appearance and adding graduated international-travel notification duties at § 1726(b)(16) and (b)(19), including forwarding foreign-travel information to the U.S. Marshals Service. 1726(b)(3) was not touched and remains in force as enacted by Act 7372 — noted because the amendment history can otherwise appear to unsettle the DNA mandate.
• Bill No. 31-0145 (31st Leg., Reg. Sess. 2015) — Act No. 7810, “An Act establishing a forensic crime lab in accordance with national standards and making an appropriation of $500,000 to fund the crime laboratory” (passed Dec. 15, 2015; to the Governor Jan. 14, 2016; approved Jan. 21, 2016). Freestanding and uncodified: Section 1 directs the Department of Justice to establish, staff, and equip a territorial forensic crime laboratory accredited by ASCLD/LAB, the National Forensic Science Technology Center, or an equivalent body; Section 2 charges it with preservation, identification, and scientific analysis of criminal evidence; Section 3 appropriates $500,000 from the Internal Revenue Matching Fund for FY 2016, available until expended. Program-side counterpart to § 4205, which otherwise lets the Director send analysis to outside laboratories.
• Bill No. 31-0260 (31st Leg., Reg. Sess. 2016) — Act No. 7871, Sess. L. 2016, p. 72, permitting DNA collection “from any person charged with an applicable offense” (passed Feb. 26, 2016; vetoed Mar. 23, 2016; enacted over the Governor’s veto Mar. 30, 2016 under 48 U.S.C. § 1575(d)). Amended 5 V.I.C. §§ 4201 and 4203 by two textual strikes — replacing “convicted and sentenced for” with “charged with or convicted of” in § 4201(f), and inserting “charged with or” before “convicted of” in § 4203(b) — converting the territory from conviction-based to arrestee collection. The whereas clauses rest on Maryland v. King and on the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act, signed Jan. 10, 2013.
• Bill No. 31-0375 (31st Leg., Reg. Sess. 2016) — Act No. 7891, § 7, Sess. L. 2016, p. 121, an omnibus re-appropriation act also “amending title 5, chapter 345, section 4203 relating to DNA samples to require the exclusive use of the buccal swap [sic] technique” (passed June 29, 2016; approved with line-item objections July 30, 2016, G31-0017; the objections struck only Sections 9 and 10, leaving Section 7 intact). Redesignated § 4203(e) as (f) and inserted a new § 4203(e): “a DNA sample must be taken from the person using the ‘buccal swab’ technique only.” Four months after Act 7871, this completed the shift off blood-based collection, though § 4204(b) and (d) were left unamended and remain in the code in tension with it.
• Bill No. 35-0301 (35th Leg., Reg. Sess. 2024) — Act No. 8865, amending 34 V.I.C. § 206(a) on the cost of forensic medical exams for victims of rape or unlawful sexual contact (passed July 22, 2024; approved Aug. 9, 2024). Struck § 206(a) and inserted a new subsection requiring the Government to pay for forensic medical examinations, including of child victims, “without regard to whether the victim cooperates with law enforcement, or has health insurance,” removing the prior requirement that the victim first file a VIPD incident report. Unamended § 206(b) remains the territory’s only kit provision, requiring exams to meet VIPD-developed rape-exam protocol standards and directing VIPD to distribute exam kits to licensed health care facilities.

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