By M. Scott Carter
OKLAHOMA CITY — OKLAHOMA CITY — State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft said he’ll try again to get a controversial bill which would require DNA samples from people charged with a felony out of committee.
This week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to table House Bill 2081 after several lawmakers expressed concern about requiring samples from defendants “who may be found not guilty of the offense.”
Current Oklahoma law already requires convicted felons to provide DNA samples which are stored in a statewide database. Wesselhoft’s measure would extend the requirement to those arrested and charged with felonies.
Friday, Wesselhoft said he would amend the measure in committee next week to make it more fair to those who are charged with a crime, but subsequently found innocent.
“I’m going to improve that bill,” he said. “The chairman of the committee told me he would give me another opportunity to hear it.”
Wesselhoft, a Moore Republican, said he would alter the bill by adding language saying those who are changed and later found innocent won’t be required to pay to have their DNA sample removed from the state’s database.
Current law allows those found not guilty to have their DNA samples expunged, but the person must pay a $150 fee.
Wesselhoft said he hoped to change that.
“I’m working on the amendment right now,” he said.
Wesselhoft said it was unfair for someone who was charged with a crime — and later found innocent — to be forced to pay to have his record cleared.
“It’s not fair if you’re found innocent,” he said. “Once you’re innocent, the DNA would then be extracted from the database, or it wouldn’t even go to the data base, depending on the timing. Sometimes it takes up to 30 days or longer.”
The main problem, he said, is cost.
“The problem is who is going to pay for it. I think we can get around that by raising the cost of the fees for those who are found guilty and convicted,” he said. Wesselhoft said he would work with officials at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to “finalize the details.”
“I’m consulting with the OSBI. We’re going to do a fiscal impact statement to find out what the cost will be, but I think we can address that issue. We’re working on it right now. When it comes back next week, it will be an improved bill.”
