LANSING (AP) -- A new Michigan law requiring suspects arrested for a violent felony to submit a DNA sample is supposed to save lives and prevent crimes.
But because legislators never set aside money for crime labs to handle the extra workload, the state will not be able to quickly store all the new samples in state and national DNA databases, leaving some criminals on the streets longer.
State law already requires anyone convicted of a felony to submit a DNA sample. Katie's Law, which takes effect Wednesday, extends the requirement to people arrested on suspicion of murder, rape, kidnapping, carjacking, assault and other violent felonies.
The measure is named for Katie Sepich, a 22-year-old graduate student who was raped, strangled, set on fire and abandoned at a New Mexico dump in 2003. Her killer was caught after submitting a DNA sample when he was convicted of a later burglary.
As a tribute to their daughter, Dave and Jayann Sepich successfully lobbied lawmakers in Michigan and elsewhere to require genetic samples from people arrested for violent crimes.
Running DNA profiles of convicted offenders against DNA databases results in about one hit on a cold case per day in Michigan, according to state police. More cases should be solved when DNA profiles of suspected criminals are added to the mix.
But the state is so short of cash that it is looking to close one of seven crime labs, not hire more employees needed to keep up with the 6,000 additional DNA samples a year required by the new law.
"I am very concerned. We are just adding to the burden and we aren't fully funding them as it is," said Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the state police budget.
The state eliminated a projected 10-year backlog of samples in the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, thanks to federal grants in recent years. But since state police began handling the work of Detroit's police lab nine months ago after errors were found in the lab's gun cases, the CODIS backlog has grown to 500 samples.
That backlog is expected to pile up further because the law will boost the annual number of samples to be processed by 23 percent. The CODIS backlog is separate from another bulging DNA backlog -- forensic samples from crime scenes -- which is slowing the turnaround time that police wait for evidence to be tested.
To process the 6,000 additional DNA samples, state police warned lawmakers they would need $1 million a year to cover six new lab jobs, equipment and supplies. But the money never came.
"The state police said there would an additional caseload. Beyond that, I don't think there were too many people who shared that concern," said Rep. Richard LeBlanc, D-Westland, chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for state police spending.
Since passing the law in December, lawmakers have had to lay off 100 state troopers and some are questioning a decision to lease a new state police headquarters building.
Many states are embracing Katie's Law, in part because of the push from the Sepichs. There are now 21 states with laws requiring DNA samples from some suspects.
Some are balking, however, because of concerns that it is wrong to demand genetic material just because someone is arrested.
The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the Michigan law, with lobbyist Shelli Weisberg warning it "not only poses a great threat to the privacy and civil liberties of innocent individuals, but also is responsible for increased backlogs in crime labs and diminishing returns to law enforcement."
