Mississippi

Recent / Pending Legislation

• HB 377 (2026, enacted) – The Missing Persons Reporting and Identification Act – If there are UHR for more than 45 days, must use FGG to identify – State Medical Examiner office.
• HB 685 (2026, died) – Relating to missing persons and genetic genealogy.
• SB 2111 (2021, died in committee) – Rapid DNA Study.

Arrestees: Yes. Booking Station Rapid Ready.

Qualifying Crimes: Statutorily defined crimes of violence: driving under the influence; murder and attempted murder; aggravated assault; manslaughter; killing of an unborn child; kidnapping; human trafficking; poisoning; rape; robbery; sexual battery; drive-by shooting; bombing; carjacking; felonious neglect, abuse, or battery of a child; burglary of a dwelling; use of explosives or weapons of mass destruction; statutory rape; exploitation of a child; gratification of lust; shooting into a dwelling; and any felony carrying a maximum sentence of at least 5 years that the judge classifies as a crime of force because the facts show the defendant used, or credibly attempted or threatened, physical force against another person during the criminal act. Also covered: sex offenses, and any conviction carrying a duty to register as a sex offender.

Time of Collection: Collected at booking.

Expungement: On motion, or on the court’s own initiative (sua sponte), the court may direct the Forensics Laboratory to destroy the sample and delete all database records where: (i) the underlying charge is dismissed; (ii) the defendant is acquitted at trial or convicted only of a lesser-included misdemeanor that is not a qualifying offense (§ 45-47-1(2)(b)(ii)); (iii) no charge was filed within the statute of limitations; or (iv) no conviction has occurred, three years have passed since the arrest, and there is no active prosecution. In each case, destruction requires that no other pending qualifying warrant, capias, or felony conviction demands retention (§ 45-47-1(2)(b)).

Statutes / Case Law

Miss. Code § 45-33-37 DNA Identification System; Convicted Sex Offender to Submit Biological Sample for Purposes of DNA Identification Analysis.

Miss. Code § 45-47-1 DNA samples to be collected from persons arrested for commission or attempted commission of certain crimes of violence; destruction of sample; penalties for obtaining, receiving or disseminating information in DNA data bank without authority.

§ 47-5-183 Department of Corrections may create a postconviction DNA database.

§ 97-3-2 Crimes of Violence Defined.

Convicted Offender: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Every person convicted of a sex offense, or in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody for one, plus the statutorily defined crimes of violence: driving under the influence; murder and attempted murder; aggravated assault; manslaughter; killing of an unborn child; kidnapping; human trafficking; poisoning; rape; robbery; sexual battery; drive-by shooting; bombing; carjacking; felonious neglect, abuse, or battery of a child; burglary of a dwelling; use of explosives or weapons of mass destruction; statutory rape; exploitation of a child; gratification of lust; shooting into a dwelling; and any felony with a maximum sentence of at least 5 years that the judge classifies as a crime of force based on the defendant’s use, or credible attempt or threat, of physical force. MDOC is also authorized to take a DNA sample from every person convicted of a felony or in its custody, before release from or transfer to a state correctional facility, county jail, or other detention facility.

Time of Collection: At booking. For sex-offense convictions: before release from, or transfer to, a state correctional facility, county jail, or other detention facility. For registered sex offenders without a DNA analysis on file: within 5 working days after registration.

Expungement: On motion or sua sponte (on the court’s own initiative), the court may direct the Forensics Laboratory to destroy the sample and delete all database records where: (i) the underlying charge is dismissed; (ii) the defendant is acquitted or convicted only of a lesser-included misdemeanor that is not a qualifying offense (§ 45-47-1(2)(b)(ii)); (iii) no charge was filed within the statute of limitations; or (iv) no conviction occurs and three years have passed since the date of the arrest and there is no active prosecution.

Statutes / Case Law

Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-37. DNA identification system; convicted sex offender to provide a biological sample for purposes of DNA identification analysis

Miss. Code Ann. § 45-47-1 DNA samples to be collected from persons arrested for commission of attempted commission of certain crimes of violence, destruction of sample; penalties for obtaining receiving or disseminating information in DNA data bank without authority

Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-183 Department of Corrections may create a postconviction DNA database

Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-2 Crimes of Violence defined

Legislative History

• SB 2797 (2000 Regular Session) → 2000 Miss. Laws ch. 499. A comprehensive rewrite of Mississippi’s sex offender registration chapter that repealed §§ 45-33-1 through 45-33-19 and codified a new §§ 45-33-21 through 45-33-57. Section 9 codified § 45-33-37, directing the Mississippi Crime Laboratory to develop and establish a DNA identification system compatible with the FBI’s, and requiring a blood sample for DNA analysis from every individual convicted of or in MDOC custody for a sex offense before release or transfer, and from any person with a duty to register for whom no analysis is on file within five working days after registration. Both collection provisions are expressed as applying “from and after January 1, 1996,” which indicates SB 2797 carried forward an existing mandate into the new section numbering rather than creating it outright.
• SB 2986 (2001 Regular Session) → 2001 Miss. Laws ch. 500. A broad revision of the sex offender registration law amending §§ 45-33-23 through 45-33-37 and repealing § 45-33-45 (sexual predator designation standards). Section 8 amended § 45-33-37 to replace “blood sample” with “biological sample” in both subsections (2) and (3), decoupling collection from blood draws. The five-working-day registrant deadline and the January 1, 1996 applicability date were carried forward unchanged from the 2000 codification.
• SB 2865 (2006 Regular Session) → 2006 Miss. Laws ch. 563. A technical-corrections bill for the registration law that also created § 45-33-34 (notification of reincarceration or commitment of a registrant). It amended § 45-33-37 to add two new subsections. Subsection (4) made the Crime Laboratory responsible for policy management and administration of the state DNA identification record system, with authority to promulgate implementing rules and a duty to cooperate with the FBI on CODIS participation and the national DNA identification index. Subsection (5) added the good-faith clause: a sample obtained in good faith is deemed obtained in compliance with the section, and an erroneous database entry does not bar legitimate law enforcement use of the information.
• SB 2159 (2015 Regular Session) → 2015 Miss. Laws ch. 452. A nomenclature bill amending nineteen code sections to identify the state’s primary criminal examination, research, and analysis laboratory as the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory. Within § 45-33-37 it replaced each reference to the “Mississippi Crime Laboratory” with the new name. No change to the collection mandate, the offense scope, or database operations.
• HB 377 (2026 Regular Session). A missing and unidentified persons bill establishing law enforcement investigation procedures, mandating entry of missing and unidentified person information into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and barring agencies from imposing waiting periods or next-of-kin appearance requirements before accepting a report. Most significantly for this project, it requires the State Medical Examiner to test the DNA of unidentified human remains using forensic genetic genealogy testing, and specifies use of a CODIS-approved buccal swab. It also amends §§ 41-61-53, 41-61-59, and 41-61-61 to define “unclaimed” and “unidentified human remains,” route such remains to the State Medical Examiner, make willful destruction of unidentified remains a felony, and impose NamUs entry deadlines on county medical examiner investigators.

No program or law found.

In 2026, the State Legislature passed a law (HB 377) which requires a Medical Examiner to conduct Forensic Genetic Genealogy testing and investigation if unidentified human remains have been in its possession for 45 days or more.

No program or law found.

• SB 2789 (2026, died) – DNA Match Notification Act