Administering Entity
Rhode Island State Police Crime Laboratory
Recent / Pending Legislation
S 2203 (2026, pending) – Genetic Information Privacy Act – consent needed for certain uses.
Arrestees: Yes, from adults only. Not Booking Station Rapid ready; probable cause/charges required.
Qualifying Crimes: Any crime of violence, including: murder; manslaughter; first-degree arson; kidnapping with intent to extort; robbery; larceny from the person; first- and second-degree sexual assault; first- and second-degree child molestation; assault with intent to murder, to rob, or to commit first-degree sexual assault; burglary; and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny.
Time of Collection: At booking — but the sample may not be tested or placed in the database before arraignment unless (1) a court affirmatively found probable cause after a hearing, or (2) the defendant was released and failed to appear, or escaped custody, before appearing before a judicial officer. No sample is taken where a sufficient one is already on file.
Expungement: Automatic in seven situations: (1) the charge lacked probable cause; (2) the arrest produced no charge; (3) the state voluntarily dismissed the charge; (4) a court dismissed it; (5) the trial ended in a not-guilty verdict; (6) a conviction was vacated or reversed and the state neither retried the defendant nor prevailed on appeal; or (7) the case ended in a plea or conviction on a lesser offense that would not trigger DNA sampling. Also available by written request after completion of a diversion program or a deferred-sentence term, or the granting of a pardon.
Statutes / Case Law
RI Gen.Laws 1956, § 12-1.5-2. Definitions
§ 12-1.5-3. Powers and duties of the department of health
§ 12-1.5-4. State DNA Database
§ 12–1.5–8. DNA Sample Required upon Arrest or Conviction for Any Crime of Violence
§ 12–1.5–9. Procedures For Withdrawal, Collection and Transmission of DNA Samples.
§ 12–1.5–13. Expungement
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.3. Definitions
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.6. State of Rhode Island DNA Databank
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.10. Expungement
Convicted Offenders: Yes.
Qualifying Crimes: Any felony, plus crimes of violence: murder; manslaughter; first-degree arson; kidnapping with intent to extort; robbery; larceny from the person; first- and second-degree sexual assault; first- and second-degree child molestation; assault with intent to murder, to rob, or to commit first-degree sexual assault; burglary; and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny.
Time of Collection: Before release, for those incarcerated; otherwise as a condition of the sentence. No sample is taken where a sufficient one is already on file.
Expungement: By written request from the person sampled, with a copy of the certified court order, where the conviction was reversed. The record shall be expunged from the state DNA identification database upon the vacating or the reversal of a conviction in which the state does not retry the defendant or appeal the decision, or. loses such appeal upon hearing, or upon any plea or conviction of a lesser offense that would not give rise to the mandatory DNA sampling. The prosecuting attorney is required to notify the department of health of any such event for purposes of expunging the person’s DNA record within 30 days of an event listed above. The department shall then destroy and expunge the sample within 30 days of receiving such notification and notify the individual of such action. By written request of the person whose sample was collected, and completion of a program of diversion or the completion of the term of a sentence of deferment, or of the granting of a pardon. Upon official proof (such as a certified copy of a death certificate) that the person has been deceased for at least 3 years
Statutes / Case Law
RI Gen. Laws 1956, § 12-1.5-2. Definitions
§ 12–1.5–3. Powers and Duties of the Department of Health
§ 12–1.5–4. State DNA Database
§ 12–1.5–5. State DNA Databank
§ 12–1.5–8. DNA sample required upon arrest or conviction for any crime of violence
§ 12–1.5–13. Expungement R.I. Admin. Code
§ 60-05-2.3. Definitions
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.6. State of Rhode Island DNA Databank
R.I. Admin. Code § 60-05-2.10. Expungement
Legislative History
P.L. 1998, ch. 33 → House Bill 98-H 7184 (as amended). Enacted: June 29, 1998. This House bill created all of Chapter 12-1.5 from scratch, establishing the DNA database (§ 12-1.5-4) and databank for persons convicted of specified sexual and violent offenses.
S 2921 became P.L. 2004, ch. 391, enacted July 5, 2004, titled “An Act Relating to Criminal Procedure — DNA Detection of Felony Offenders” (text). Its House companion, H 7290, became P.L. 2004, ch. 455 (July 7, 2004). Together they amended §§ 12-1.5-1 and 12-1.5-7 to expand the databank from the enumerated sexual/violent offense list to any felony as defined in RI general laws, effective upon passage. Substantively, this 2004 pair — not the dormant 2001 act — is the all-felon expansion that actually appears in the operative statute’s history line. Worth noting for your timeline: 2004 accomplished (and exceeded) what 2001 attempted, without a funding contingency.
P.L. 2014, ch. 176 → Senate Bill S 2101 Substitute B Enacted: June 24, 2014 (effective July 1, 2015) Introduced by: Senators Bates, Walaska, Hodgson, Sosnowski, and Ottiano Amended § 12-1.5-4 to add “individuals arrested for any crime of violence” as a database category, in addition to convicted felony offenders. This was the major expansion requiring DNA collection at booking.
P.L. 2023, ch. 354 → H 5435 Substitute A Enacted 6/26/2023. Added new § 12-1.5-19 requiring the state crime lab to audit the databank for missing DNA profiles and report to the General Assembly.
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