Legislator to push again for testing DNA of suspects

TACOMA — Rep. Mark Miloscia, D-Federal Way, says he plans to introduce a bill in the 2009 Legislature that will put the state on the same page with the federal government on the subject of DNA testing.

In January, federal authorities will start collecting DNA samples from everyone they arrest on felony charges.

Miloscia sponsored a state bill in 2005 that was much like the new federal law that will take effect Jan. 9. The Legislature gets under way Jan. 12.

"We take their fingerprints, their pictures and their address when they are arrested," Miloscia said. "What's wrong with taking their DNA? We would throw their DNA away if they aren't convicted."

Miloscia's 2005 proposal said DNA for arrested felons would be destroyed if charges were dropped or if the suspect were found not guilty, and their markers would be removed from the database maintained by the State Patrol.

Currently, Washington law requires collection of DNA samples only from convicted criminals, not from all who are arrested for felony crimes. DNA collection also is required for a smattering of lesser offenses — generally sex crimes. But again, those samples are taken only after conviction.

Miloscia's 2005 bill never got beyond a public hearing in a House committee, and Miloscia acknowledged the 2009 prospects are not good because of economic implications. The state faces an estimated $5.7 billion deficit.

But Miloscia said he believes a majority of the Legislature's members will see things his way once the state's budget problems are behind them.

Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said cost isn't the only reason Miloscia's bill should not be passed into law. He thinks it would intrude too much on individual privacy.

"It's not an obvious slam-dunk," Kline said. "The public has an interest on both sides of this question — in catching the bad guys and in protecting the privacy of the good guys."