Delaware

No program or law found.

Arrestees: No. Not Booking Station Rapid Ready.

Convicted Offender: Yes

Qualifying Crimes: Two windows: (i) persons convicted on or after June 16, 1994, and sentenced to confinement, for any offense or attempt defined in subchapter II, subpart D, or subchapter V of Chapter 5, Title 11 (felonies, sexual offenses, and offenses relating to children and vulnerable adults); and (ii) persons convicted after July 1, 2003, and sentenced to confinement, for any offense classified as a felony under Title 11.

Time of Collection: Collected at sentencing; if the person is not sentenced to confinement, at a time and place set by the sentencing court. (See statutory language, the “Division of Forensic Sciences shall promulgate collection rules.”)

Expungement: Two steps: (1) petition a court on the ground that the conviction was reversed or the case dismissed; (2) the Division of Forensic Science must destroy the sample on receipt of a certified court order.

Statutes / Case Law

29 Del.C. § 4713. DNA analysis and data bank

Legislative History

House Bill No. 318 (137th General Assembly), as amended by Senate Amendment No. 1, Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Amendment No. 1, and Senate Amendment No. 2 — enacted as 69 Del. Laws, c. 249, approved June 16, 1994. Created Delaware’s forensic DNA program for the first time by adding § 4713 to Title 29. Declared DNA testing a reliable scientific technique and made DNA profile comparisons admissible as evidence in criminal proceedings. Required anyone convicted of sex offenses or violent crimes (specifically Subchapter II Subpart D and Subchapter V of Title 11, Chapter 5) to provide a blood sample to the Department of Correction for inclusion in a database maintained by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Forensic Sciences Laboratory. Established the database, created confidentiality protections and FOIA exemption, authorized expungement upon reversal of conviction, and criminalized unauthorized use of database information. Simultaneously added § 3515 to Title 11 governing DNA profile admissibility in criminal proceedings, including advance-notice requirements for the party seeking to introduce DNA evidence.

HB 4 as amended by House Amendment No. 2 (141st GA) → 73 Del. Laws, c. 387, approved July 9, 2002. Significantly expanded the DNA collection mandate beyond sex and violent offenders. Added a new § 4713(b)(2) requiring a blood sample from any person convicted of any felony offense under Title 11 — a sweeping expansion from the original statute’s narrower offense list. The expansion was made contingent on a specific legislative appropriation of funding in the Annual Appropriations Act.

HB 175 as amended by Senate Amendment No. 1 (142nd GA) → 74 Del. Laws, c. 223 — comprehensive rewrite of § 4713. A comprehensive rewrite of § 4713 with three principal changes: (1) replaced the term “blood sample” with “biological sample” throughout the statute, modernizing the collection framework; (2) added subsection (m) formally defining “biological sample” as “a blood sample or a buccal swab,” permitting cheek swabs as an alternative to blood draws; and (3) updated administrative provisions governing who may collect samples and what regulatory framework governs the database.

HB 413 (142nd GA) → 74 Del. Laws, c. 344, approved July 12, 2004 — amended § 4713(b)(2), replacing “the effective date of this act” with “July 1, 2003”. A narrow technical fix. Amended § 4713(b)(2) by replacing the phrase “the effective date of this act” with the specific calendar date “July 1, 2003,” clarifying with certainty the date on which the expanded felony DNA collection mandate took effect.

HB 11 (147th GA) → 79 Del. Laws, c. 8. A targeted amendment to § 4713(c)’s personnel qualification requirements. Removed the word “medical” from the phrase “other qualified medical personnel,” so that the statute now reads “other qualified personnel approved by the Chief Medical Examiner.” This modestly broadened the universe of authorized biological sample collectors beyond strictly medical professionals.

SB 241 as amended by Senate Amendment Nos. 2 & 3 (147th GA) → 79 Del. Laws, c. 265. A major administrative restructuring that abolished the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as an independent agency and created a new Division of Forensic Science within the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Amended § 4713 throughout to replace every reference to the “Chief Medical Examiner” and “Forensic Sciences Laboratory” with “Division of Forensic Science” and “Director of the Division of Forensic Science.” Also established a new Commission on Forensic Science to provide oversight and governance of the division. The substantive DNA collection requirements were unchanged — only the administering agency was reorganized.

HB 190 (148th GA) → 80 Del. Laws, c. 353, approved August 3, 2016 — amended § 4713(m), changing the definition of “biological sample” from “a blood sample or a buccal swab” to “any evidence collected for the purpose of identifying DNA”. Amended the definition of “biological sample” in § 4713(m), striking “a blood sample or a buccal swab” and substituting “any evidence collected for the purpose of identifying DNA.” This was a significant expansion of the definition — untethering it from specific collection methods and broadening it to cover any forensic evidence capable of yielding a DNA profile.

SB 139 (153rd GA) → 85 Del. Laws, c. 143. The most recent and comprehensive overhaul of the DNA statutes. Key changes include: (1) created a new § 4701A consolidating all DNA-related definitions (biological sample, buccal swab, CODIS, DFS, DNA profile, NDIS, SDIS, sexual assault kit) in one place; (2) substantially reorganized and modernized § 4713’s language; (3) created a new § 4713A establishing mandatory timelines for sexual assault kit (SAK) testing — law enforcement must submit SAKs to DFS within 30 days, and DFS must complete analysis within 90 days; (4) added biological evidence retention requirements for unsolved sexual assault cases (20 years, or until the victim reaches age 40 if they were a minor at the time); (5) expanded victim rights regarding DNA testing status and match notifications; (6) required DFS to share verified DNA match information with the Delaware Information Analysis Center (DIAC); and (7) harmonized cross-references to the DNA statutes across Titles 11 and 29.

No program or law found.

• New Castle County has a Rapid DNA program with a local database. It is not a laboratory-based program.

No Delaware statute regulates forensic genetic genealogy. Law enforcement use FGG on case-by-case basis.

Partnership between Kent County on Yvonne Hollister and DDFS and Othram.

No program or law found.

No program or law found.