DNA Data Bank Oversight Panel
Minutes of meeting of December 14, 2022
The meeting convened at 9:33 a.m.
Participating in the meeting were Pamela Hofsass, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Daniel Renstrom, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Megan Olt, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Mandy Young, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Joseph Sanford, CSP-SONRA; Phil Chappell; CSP-SONRA; Kate Ayers, DESPP-Legal; Regina Hebert, Judicial; Elizabeth Tugie, DOC; Lisamaria Proscino, Office of the Attorney General; and Michael Gailor, Division of Criminal Justice.
The minutes of the meeting on September 14, 2022, were unanimously approved.
The lab reported that as of December 1, 2022, a total of 132,276 convicted offender samples have been submitted to the lab; 1029 since March 1, 2021. Of these samples, approximately 7412 were determined to be duplicate submissions. One hundred twenty four thousand eight hundred eighty-three are searching in CODIS. Approximately 150 convicted offender samples are waiting to be processed/entered into CODIS. There are approximately 20,000 profiles in the Forensic Index. The lab reported that 9,538 investigations have been aided so far by 9,868 confirmed hits. Approximately 83 candidate matches are under evaluation. The average time it takes to send out notification of the hit once it has been obtained is twenty days.
The Judicial Department reported that from July through September, 2022, it sent 310 initial and 162 warning letters to individuals whose sentences included a period of probation to remind them of their obligation to provide DNA samples. Judicial sent 53 initial and 32 warning letters to individuals who were not sentenced to a period of probation. Judicial collected 307 samples during that time period. Judicial sent 20 requests for warrants to the State Police for individuals who failed to provide a sample and requested the Department of Corrections collect 14 samples.
The Department of Correction reported that it has collected 361 samples since the last committee meeting and 1129 samples from inmates in the year to date. Currently, 66 inmates have refused to provide a sample in violation of the statutes. They have 70 inmates from which samples need to be taken.
The Sexual Offender Registration Unit of the DESPP reported that from July 1, 2022 to September 1, 2022, it registered 46 new sexual offenders, while the Deadly Weapon Offender Registration Unit has registered 77 new offenders. The Sexual Offender Registration Unit collected 25 samples while the Deadly Weapon Offender Registration Unit collected 5 samples.
There was no public comment.
The Committee went into executive session at 9:58 a.m. and came out of executive session at 10:01 a.m. No action was taken as a result of the discussion in executive session.
The Committee set the following meeting dates for 2023 - March 8, June 14, September 13 and December 13.
The meeting concluded at 10:02 a.m.