§ 12-1.5-13. Expungement.
(a) A person whose DNA record or profile has been included in the databank pursuant to
this act may request expungement on the grounds that the conviction on which authority
for including that person's DNA record or profile was based has been reversed. The
department of health shall purge all records and identifiable information in the database
pertaining to the person and destroy all samples from the person upon receipt of a
written request for expungement pursuant to this section and a certified copy of the
final court order reversing the conviction. The department of health shall purge and
destroy all records and identifiable information in its database and all DNA samples
taken pursuant to this chapter from convicted persons upon official proof that the
person has been deceased for a period of at least three (3) years. Official proof
shall include, but not be limited to, a certified copy of a death certificate.
(b) If the offense for which a DNA sample has been taken pursuant to § 12-1.5-8(b) does not result in a charge through information or indictment; or leads to voluntary
dismissal of the charge by the state, or dismissal by a court; or by a not guilty
verdict after trial; or 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 sampling of the individual's DNA; the record or profile shall
be expunged from the state DNA identification database, regardless of any prior record
for which DNA sampling would not have been authorized, except pursuant to subsection
(e) herein.
(1) The prosecuting authority shall, within thirty (30) days of an event listed in this
subsection, notify the department of health of such event for purposes of expunging
the person's DNA record and any samples, analyses, or other documents relating to
the DNA testing of such individual in connection with the investigation, arrest, and/or
prosecution of the crime that resulted in the arrest of the person. The department
shall, within thirty (30) days of receiving such notification, destroy and expunge
the person's DNA record and any samples, analyses, or other documents relating to
the DNA testing of such individual and shall notify the individual of such action.
(c) Upon receipt of a written request for expungement from the person whose DNA record
or profile has been included in the database pursuant to this chapter and notification
of the completion of a program of diversion or the completion of the term of a sentence
of deferment, or of the granting of a pardon, the record or profile shall be expunged
from the state DNA identification database, regardless of any prior record for which
DNA sampling would not have been authorized, except pursuant to subsection (e) herein,
and such individual may apply to the court for an order directing the expungement
of their DNA record and any samples, analyses, or other documents relating to the
DNA testing of such individual in connection with the investigation, arrest, and/or
prosecution of the crime that resulted in the arrest of the person.
(d) A copy of the expungement motion shall be served on the attorney general and the arresting
police department with ten (10) days' notice prior to hearing, and an order directing
expungement shall be granted if the court finds any of the appropriate conditions
of the prior subsection are satisfied.
(e) The department of health shall, by rule or regulation, prescribe procedures to ensure
that the DNA record in the state DNA identification database, and any samples, analyses,
or other documents relating to such record, whether in the possession of the division,
or any law enforcement or police agency, or any forensic DNA laboratory, including
any duplicates or copies thereof are destroyed, including any records from CODIS.
The director of health shall also adopt, by rule and regulation, a procedure for the
expungement in other appropriate circumstances of DNA records contained in the database.
(f) No expungement shall be granted where an individual has a prior conviction requiring
a DNA sample, or a pending charge for which collection of a sample was authorized
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(g) The detention, arrest, or conviction of a person based upon a database match or database
information is not invalidated if it is determined that the sample was obtained or
placed in the database by mistake. Any identification, warrant, or probable cause
to arrest based upon a database match is not invalidated due to a failure to expunge
or a delay in expunging records.
(h) At the time of collection of the DNA sample upon arrest of any crime of violence as
defined in § 12-1.5-2, the individual from whom a sample is collected shall be given written notice that
the DNA record may be expunged and the DNA sample destroyed in accordance with this
section. In addition, the department of health, the office of the attorney general,
and the office of the public defender shall post on their websites the expungement
provisions of this section.