DNA Data Bank Oversight Panel
Minutes of meeting of September 14, 2022 meeting
The meeting convened at 9:33 a.m. Participating in the meeting were Pamela Hofsass, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Cheryl Carreiro, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Daniel Renstrom, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Megan Olt, DESPP-Forensic Lab; Mandy Pascu; DESPP-Forensic Lab; Regina Hebert, Judicial; Joseph Sanford, CSP-SONRA; Phil Chappell; CSP-SONRA; Elizabeth Tugie, Department of Correction; Kathleen Ayers; DESPP-Legal; Robert Meredith, Innocence Project; Lisamaria Proscino, Office of the Attorney General; John Doyle, Division of Criminal Justice; Michael Gailor, Division of Criminal Justice.
The minutes of the meeting on June 8, 2022, were unanimously approved.
The lab reported that as of September 1, 2022, a total of 131,247 convicted offender samples have been submitted to the lab; 845 since June 1, 2021. Of these samples, 7375 were determined to be duplicate submissions. One hundred twenty three thousand nine hundred sixty-two are searching in CODIS. Approximately 400 convicted offender samples are waiting to be processed/entered into CODIS. There are 19,435 profiles in the Forensic Index. The backlog of forensic cases includes nine hundred forty-nine assigned to DNA. The lab reported that 9,261 investigations have been aided so far by 9,525 confirmed hits. Approximately 84 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 April through June, 2022, it sent 295 initial and 149 warning letters to individuals whose sentences included a period of probation to remind them of their obligation to provide DNA samples. Judicial sent 73 initial and 41 warning letters to individuals who were not sentenced to a period of probation. Judicial collected 302 samples during that time period. Judicial sent 24 requests for warrants to the State Police for individuals who failed to provide a sample and requested the Department of Corrections collect 12 samples.
The Department of Correction reported that it has collected 850 samples in the year to date. Currently, 82 inmates have refused to provide a sample in violation of the statutes. They have 123 additional inmates from whom samples need to be taken.
The Sexual Offender Registration Unit of the DESPP reported that from December 1, 2021 to March 1, 2022, it registered 53 new sexual offenders, while the Deadly Weapon Offender Registration Unit has registered 49 new offenders. The Sexual Offender Registration Unit collected 27 samples while the Deadly Weapon Offender Registration Unit collected 2 samples.
The Panel went into executive session at 10:06 a.m. and came out of executive session at 10:08 a.m. As a result of the discussion in executive session, sample 9/14/22A was ordered purged from the Data Bank.
The meeting concluded at 10:09 a.m.