Administering Entity
Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division
Recent / Pending Legislation
- SB 0678 (2026, pending/legislature adjourned) – Forensic Genetic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Search – Affidavit for Judicial Authorization; expanding eligibility of cases to go to FGG.
- SB 202 (2025) (2025, enacted) – mandates sex offender register DNA collection. Samples cannot be analyzed until specific statutory conditions are met.
Arrestees: Yes. Not Booking Station Rapid Ready – Sample cannot be analyzed until a formal legal verification occurs – judicial probable cause finding, there is warrant, formal indictment/information. If arrest for crime not supported by probable cause, the sample must be immediately destroyed.
Qualifying Crimes: Charges for a crime of violence (or an attempt), or for burglary (or an attempt).
Time of Collection: Collected at charging — but no testing or entry into the DNA database may occur unless:
(1) A judge or commissioner of the or District Court or a judge of the circuit court finds probable cause for a qualifying crime based on a statement of charges filed by a police officer or State’s Attorney;
(2) The person is arrested on a warrant for a qualifying crime based on a statement of charges;
(3) A charge by information is filed for a qualifying crime in accordance with § 4-102 of the Criminal Procedure Article; or
(4) An indictment is returned for a qualifying crime.
Testing may occur earlier if the individual requests or consents solely to compare against a sample that has been processed from the crime scene or hospital and is related to the charges against the individual. If taken pursuant to a search warrant, another collection shall be taken at charging.
Expungement: Automatic where the charges are found unsupported by probable cause; the criminal action ends without a conviction; the conviction is finally reversed or vacated with no new trial permitted; or the person receives an unconditional pardon. A sample collected but never tested from a person charged with a qualifying crime must be destroyed and expunged where two years have passed since collection and the sample failed testing requirements. No automatic destruction or expungement occurs while the action is on the stet docket, the person receives probation before judgment, or the trial on a qualifying crime remains pending for any reason.
If the DNA sample or DNA record was obtained or generated only in connection with a case in which eligibility for expungement has been established, the DNA sample shall be destroyed and the DNA record shall expunged. DNA record that is required to be expunged must be expunged from every database into which it has been entered.
Statutes / Case Law
MD Code Public Safety § 2-504. Collection of DNA samples
§ 2-511. Destruction or Expungement of DNA Information
MD Code Regs. § 29.05.01.04 Collecting Samples
Maryland v. King, 133 S. Ct. 1958 (2013) (“When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee’s DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”)
Walker v. State, 2022 WL 1416675 (Md. Ct. App. May 4, 2022) (holding DNA obtained pursuant to a search warrant was not subject to the DNA Act and thus was properly not expunged).
Convicted Offender: Yes.
Qualifying Crimes: Any felony, fourth-degree burglary, or breaking and entering a motor vehicle. S.B. 202 (2025) additionally mandates DNA collection from registered sex offenders.
Time of Collection: At sentencing or upon intake to a correctional facility; or as a condition of sentence or probation if not sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Expungement: Automatic – where the conviction is finally reversed or vacated and no new trial is permitted, or the person receives an unconditional pardon. A DNA sample or DNA record may not be destroyed or expunged automatically from the State DNA data base if the criminal action is put on the stet docket, the individual receives probation before judgment, or the trial for a qualifying charge remains pending for any reason. If the DNA sample or DNA record was obtained or generated only in connection with a case in which eligibility for expungement has been established, the DNA sample shall be destroyed and the DNA record shall expunged. DNA record that is required to be expunged must be expunged from every database into which it has been entered.
Statutes / Case Law
MD. Code Public Safety § 2-504. Collection of DNA samples;
MD. Code Public Safety, § 2-511. Destruction or expungement of DNA information
MD. Code Regs. §29.05.01.04 Collecting Samples
Maryland v. King, 133 S. Ct. 1958 (2013) (“When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee’s DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”)
Walker v. State, 2022 WL 1416675 (Md. Ct. App. May 4, 2022) (holding DNA obtained pursuant to a search warrant was not subject to the DNA Act and thus was properly not expunged).
Legislative History
1994 — Original Enactment Ch. 458 — Created the Maryland DNA database program. Bill number not available through MGA’s digital records (pre-1996).
2003 Ch. 5 (SB 1) — Housekeeping recodification. Moved the DNA statutes out of the old Article 88B (State Police article) into the newly created Public Safety Article, renumbering the section to § 2-504. No substantive change.
2003 Ch. 240 (HB 575) — Expanded the retroactive reach. Required people convicted of qualifying crimes before October 1, 2003 who were still incarcerated as of October 1, 1999 to submit a DNA sample — catching inmates who predated the original mandate.
2004 Ch. 66 (HB 1052) — Technical cleanup. Fixed cross-references, corrected drafting errors, and made conforming amendments in the Public Safety Article after the 2003 recodification.
2005 Ch. 325 (SB 622) — Removed the funding escape hatch. The original law said DNA collection was only required “if adequate funds are appropriated in the State budget.” This bill deleted that condition, making collection mandatory regardless of whether the legislature funded it.
2005 Ch. 448 (SB 213) & Ch. 449 (HB 240) — Companion bills expanding when collection happens. Added the circuit courtroom as a collection location and allowed DNA to be taken at the moment of sentencing, not just on intake to a correctional facility.
2008 Ch. 337 (SB 211) — The big expansion — and the law upheld in Maryland v. King (2013). Authorized DNA collection from people arrested (not yet convicted) for violent crimes and burglary, allowing pre-conviction CODIS entry and cold-case matching.
2025 Ch. 92 (SB 202) — Companion bills making the most recent alterations to the collection system, penalties, and database procedures. The full scope requires reading the enrolled text, but per the title: “Statewide DNA Database System, DNA Collection, and Penalties – Alterations.”
No program or law found.
Maryland enacted Md. Code Ann., Pub. Safety § 2-507 (Ch. 695, Acts of 2021) — one of the first two state FGG statutes in the nation. The law limits FGG use to violent crimes and unidentified remains, requires a court authorization order (based on probable cause equivalent), mandates use of publicly available databases only, and requires the AG to publish FGG policies.
Maryland’s framework is frequently cited as a national model.
No program or law found.
Maryland State Police, on its own initiative (without state law to force it) has begun implementation of a CODIS Hit Outcome tracking system.