Administering Entity
New Jersey State Police, Office of Forensic Sciences, CODIS Unit
Recent / Pending Legislation
No program or law found.
Arrestees: Yes. Booking Station Rapid Ready.
Qualifying Crimes: Aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, and criminal sexual contact (including attempts); murder; manslaughter; second-degree aggravated assault; kidnapping; and luring or enticing a child into a motor vehicle with purpose to commit a criminal offense with or against the child; and endangering the welfare of children (N.J.S. 2C:24-4; see § 53:1-20.20(d)). Also required for every juvenile arrested for an act that would constitute one of these offenses if committed by an adult.
Time of Collection: If not sentenced to a term of confinement, drawn / collected at prison or jail unit as specified by the sentencing court.
Expungement: By application, where every charge from the qualifying arrest was dismissed or resolved by acquittal at trial — or, for a juvenile, where the qualifying adjudication was reversed and the case dismissed. Any person found not guilty by reason of insanity, or adjudicated not delinquent by reason of insanity, whose DNA record or profile has been included in the State DNA database and whose DNA sample is stored in the State DNA databank may apply for expungement on the grounds that all charges resulting from the arrest that provided the basis for inclusion of the person’s DNA record or profile in the State database or the inclusion of the person’s DNA sample in the State databank have been dismissed or have been resolved through an acquittal at trial. If the entry in the database reflects more than one conviction or adjudication, that entry shall not be expunged unless and until the person or the juvenile adjudicated delinquent has obtained an order of expungement for each conviction or adjudication. If one of the bases for inclusion in the DNA database was other than conviction or adjudication, that entry shall not be subject to expungement.
Statutes / Case Law
N.J. STAT. ANN. § 53:1-20.19 – DEFINITIONS REGARDING DNA DATABANKS
§ 53:1-20.20 – DNA SAMPLES REQUIRED; CONDITIONS
§ 53:1-20.22 – DRAWING OF DNA SAMPLES; CONDITIONS
§ 53:1-20.24. USE OF STATE DATABASE
§ 53:1-20.25 – EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORDS FROM STATE RECORDS; CONDITIONS
P.L.2011, C. 104 – ARREST
Convicted Offenders: Yes.
Qualifying Crimes: Any “crime or a specified disorderly persons offense,” including: aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, and criminal sexual contact (with attempts) — extending to every juvenile adjudicated delinquent for an act that would be aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault if committed by an adult; murder; manslaughter; second-degree aggravated assault; kidnapping; luring or enticing a child into a motor vehicle with purpose to commit an offense with or against the child; endangering the welfare of children; and attempts to commit any of the foregoing.
Time of Collection: For incarcerated persons, the sample is drawn or collected at the place of incarceration when confinement begins. For persons not sentenced to confinement, collection occurs at a prison or jail unit specified by the sentencing court; for adjudicated delinquents, at a prison or jail identification and classification bureau specified by the family court.
Expungement: Available by application where the conviction that placed the person’s record or profile in the State database (or sample in the State databank) was reversed and the case dismissed. Any person found not guilty by reason of insanity, or adjudicated not delinquent by reason of insanity, whose DNA record or profile has been included in the State DNA database and whose DNA sample is stored in the State DNA databank may apply for expungement on the grounds that the judgment that resulted in the inclusion of the person’s DNA record or profile in the State database or the inclusion of the person’s DNA sample in the State databank has been reversed and the case dismissed. If the entry in the database reflects more than one conviction or adjudication, that entry shall not be expunged unless and until the person or the juvenile adjudicated delinquent has obtained an order of expungement for each conviction or adjudication. If one of the bases for inclusion in the DNA database was other than conviction or adjudication, that entry shall not be subject to expungement.
Statutes / Case Law
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 53:1-20.19 – Definitions regarding DNA databanks
53:1-20.20 – DNA samples required; conditions
53:1-20.22 – Drawing of DNA samples; conditions
53:1-20.24. Use of State database
53:1-20.25 – Expungement of records from State records; conditions
A.A. ex rel. B.A. v. Attorney Gen. of New Jersey, 894 A.2d 31 (App. Div. 2006), aff’d, 914 A.2d 260 (2007) (The state’s requirements for provision of DNA are constitutional.). Note that the law now applies “to person convicted of any crime.”
State v. O’Hagen, 380 N.J. Super. 133 (2005). Prior to its amendment in 2003, N.J.S.A. 53:1–20.20 required only those persons convicted of committing certain sexual offenses, or those persons convicted of murder, manslaughter or second-degree aggravated assault or the attempt to commit these offenses, to have a blood sample drawn for purposes of DNA testing. Following the 2003 amendment, the class of offenders for whom DNA testing is mandated was expanded.
State v. Vodrazka, No. A-4379-10T1, 2012 WL 6163187, at *2 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 12, 2012).
Legislative History
- A1592 (1994) → P.L. 1994, c. 136, the DNA Database and Databank Act of 1994, codified at N.J.S.A. 53:1-20.17. Created New Jersey’s DNA database and databank. Required blood samples from persons convicted on or after January 1, 1995 of aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault under N.J.S. 2C:14-2, aggravated criminal sexual contact or criminal sexual contact under N.J.S. 2C:14-3, or any attempt — drawn upon commencement of confinement, or as a condition of sentence for those not confined, with pre-release collection for those already incarcerated for such offenses before that date.
- A353 (Second Reprint) (1997) → P.L. 1997, c. 341, approved January 12, 1998. Extended the mandate on or after January 1, 1998 to juveniles adjudicated delinquent for acts that would constitute the same sexual offenses if committed by an adult, and to persons found not guilty by reason of insanity or adjudicated not delinquent by reason of insanity of those offenses. Amended the legislative findings at C.53:1-20.18 to reflect both additions.
- S439 (Second Reprint) (2000) → P.L. 2000, c. 118, approved September 13, 2000. Extended the mandate on or after January 1, 2000 to murder (2C:11-3), manslaughter (2C:11-4), second-degree aggravated assault under paragraphs (1) or (6) of 2C:12-1(b), kidnapping (2C:13-1), luring or enticing a child (2C:13-6), and endangering the welfare of children by sexual conduct (2C:24-4), plus attempts — applied in parallel across convicted persons, juveniles adjudicated delinquent, and insanity acquittees. It also introduced the phrase “or other biological sample collected”alongside blood draws, beginning the move off blood-only collection.
- A2617 (Fourth Reprint) (2003) → P.L. 2003, c. 183, approved September 22, 2003. The categorical expansion. Rewrote the findings and the mandate so the database contains samples from every person convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity of a crime — that is, any indictable offense — and from every juvenile adjudicated delinquent or not delinquent by reason of insanity for an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult. Also amended and supplemented P.L. 1994, c. 136 and amended R.S. 39:5-41.
- S737 (Second Reprint) (2011) → P.L. 2011, c. 104, approved August 18, 2011. Added pre-conviction arrestee collection: every person arrested for an enumerated violent offense, and every juvenile arrested for an act that would constitute such an offense, must provide a sample prior to release from custody. Also enacted a new section codified at C.2C:29-11 making it an offense to knowingly refuse to allow a sample to be drawn or collected, replacing a fourth-degree crime provision that had been struck during passage.
- A428 (Assembly Committee Substitute) (2015) → P.L. 2015, c. 263, approved January 19, 2016. Extended the mandate to specified disorderly persons offenses, defined as assault constituting domestic violence under C.2C:25-19, prostitution under 2C:34-1, any disorderly persons narcotics or dangerous drug offense requiring fingerprinting other than possession of 50 grams or less of marijuana or 5 grams or less of hashish under 2C:35-10, and any other disorderly persons offense requiring fingerprinting under R.S. 53:1-15 — expressly excluding shoplifting under 2C:20-11. Applied in parallel to juveniles adjudicated delinquent or not delinquent by reason of insanity for such acts.
- S3078 (2019) → P.L. 2019, c. 122, approved June 7, 2019. Required DNA samples from persons arrested for child pornography offenses, amending the collection mandate at C.53:1-20.20 so that every person arrested for an offense enumerated in the relevant subsection provides a sample prior to release from custody.
New Jersey has a robust casework Rapid DNA program, including a mobile instrument.
No law, but there appears to be a police-academic partnership for FGG. IGG Center Partners with NJ State Police to Identify Cold Case from 2017
A5045 (2026, introduced May 11, pending) – establishes a grant program to funding FGG in cold cases.
No program or law found.
No program or law found.
Legislation possible in 2027.
