DNA Database Law Helping OSBI Solve More Cases

If you’re accused of a felony crime in Oklahoma, your DNA may be headed to a national crime database. The law allowing the change, HB 2275, passed in 2016 but now state agencies want money to make sure the program doesn’t go away.

Wednesday, March 27th 2019, 9:13 am

By: News 9


If you’re accused of a felony crime in Oklahoma, your DNA may be headed to a national crime database.

The law allowing the change, HB 2275, passed in 2016 but now state agencies want money to make sure the program doesn’t go away.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation staff say getting the Bill passed was only half the battle. The other half was securing the funds for the cutting edge technology to make the New Age Science crime fighting possible.

The answer came in the form of a federal grant in 2018, worth $734,059.

That money is going towards funding purchases of cutting edge tech and training to help pair science and crime fighting.

Senior OSBI Criminalist, Rhonda Williams says, “It could solve the case or it could be a piece of the puzzle that helps them link down the path to somebody else like who we actually received a hit to somebody who was involved in a crime but wasn’t the actual murderer.”

After training County Sheriff's Offices, the DNA came rolling in.

The OSBI has received more than one thousand samples since August, with 25 confirmed hits to crimes.

The DNA is collected from people allegedly committing felony crimes, not just the ones who are convicted.

Wilson explains, “Obviously we’re not grabbing people and taking their DNA and putting it our database for fun. This is something we are doing and abiding by the law, so we want someone in our database who should be there.”

According to the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office In October they collected 430 DNA samples at intake. In November we collected 377 samples at intake. Those numbers do not include samples taken from inmates already in their cells.

Federal grant funding for felony arrest DNA collection is set to run out by the end of the year, meaning OSBI staff are looking for ways to keep the program alive.

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