Senate committee advances bill to require DNA collection for two misdemeanor offenses

The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee voted to send Senate Bill 12-26 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after hearing from lawmakers, Idaho State Police forensic staff, researchers and victim advocates who said targeted misdemeanor DNA collection could close investigative gaps.

Senator Melissa Wintrow, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure narrows a prior proposal and focuses on two misdemeanor offenses that she and supporters believe are likely to be precursors to more serious crimes. "These cases, many times too, are lehi down quite a bit. And so then it's very important, I think, in order to hold especially ... perpetrators accountable and provide closure to victims that we collect the DNA," Wintrow said.

A nut graf: Proponents argued the bill would not expand licensing or enforcement but would add narrowly defined misdemeanor offenses to the list of circumstances where DNA is collected, and would clarify and reorganize statutory definitions and timing so the misdemeanor collection is prospective rather than retroactive.

Idaho State Police Laboratory System Director Matthew Gammon told the panel that Idaho currently has about 78,000 offender profiles and roughly 2,400 forensic profiles in CODIS, and that the lab has received federal funding to address so-called "lawfully owed" samples. "As of 2025, the National CODIS... has produced over 7,780,000 hits, assisting more than 750,000 investigations," Gammon said, and he estimated that adding roughly 600 samples into Idaho CODIS could produce investigative leads in about six cases given Idaho's current hit rate.

Dr. Lisa Bostaff, a criminal-justice professor at Boise State University and research partner to Idaho's cold-case task force, summarized a study of 153 parole-eligible individuals and said the groups studied had distinct prior-conviction patterns. "Based on our findings, we conclude that expanding DNA collection to misdemeanor ... and domestic violence offenses may be one way to reduce the number of violent felonies that eventually become cold cases," she told the committee, while also noting limitations in the sample and analysis.

Bea Black, CEO of the Women's and Children's Alliance, provided local victim-service context, saying her staff met nearly 2,200 petitioners for civil protection orders in Ada County last year and that many cases originally charged as felonies were later pled down to misdemeanors. "Knowing that their perpetrator's DNA has been collected could provide some measure of accountability," she said.

Committee members asked about retroactivity and about samples that were "skipped" in past processing. Contractor Mark Denhart said the federal grant work is already identifying previously uncollected, lawfully owed samples and that gaps typically occurred when people moved through nontraditional processing pathways such as probation or county-level dispositions rather than IDOC facilities.

After questioning, Senator Keiser moved and Senator Foreman seconded sending SB 12-26 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The chair called for a voice vote and the motion carried.

The committee did not adopt floor amendments during the hearing and did not take a final Senate vote; the measure will next be scheduled for consideration on the Senate floor.