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Committee advances bill allowing DNA sampling when immigration detainers placed on arrestees
Summary
Senators voted 5–3 to advance Senate Bill 116, a civil measure requiring DNA swabs from people arrested for misdemeanor or felony offenses if an immigration detainer has been placed, with discussion focused on costs, lab capacity and timing of detainers.
Senator Tim Bearden sponsored Senate Bill 116 (LC 394563), which the Public Safety Committee advanced on Oct. 12 by a 5–3 vote. Bearden said the bill would require that, when an immigration detainer is placed on an arrestee (misdemeanor or felony), a DNA sample be taken; he said the change is a four-word amendment on line 29 of the bill text.
Bearden and others argued DNA is a modern investigative tool that can solve violent and unsolved crimes when other trace evidence is unavailable. He told the committee the swab itself has a low per-kit cost; during questioning Senator Rick Williams and others raised concerns about laboratory capacity, backlog, and personnel. Williams told the committee the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) had told him it lacks current personnel capacity to handle a substantial increase in swabs and that any cost estimate should include staffing and processing, not just kit price. Bearden said the committee has been working with GBI leadership and that the bureau has been adding scientists and using third-party labs to reduce backlog.
Mike Mitchell of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association told the committee the association did not oppose the bill but flagged cost uncertainty and the operational reality that some detainees with misdemeanor charges bond out before a detainer is received and thus would not be available for sampling.
The committee voted to advance the bill to the Senate Rules Committee by a recorded voice/hand count of 5 in favor and 3 opposed.
