New law: Iowa to expand DNA collection from criminals

By James Q. Lynch, The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS Iowa law enforcement officers are about to get what Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek calls a valuable and important tool that will help close very important cases.

However, a civil liberties advocate calls the collection of DNA from people who commit relatively low-level crimes invasive, expensive and unnecessary and said the process diverts time and money away from more serious cases.

The Tuesday implementation of the law that calls for collecting DNA samples from people convicted of aggravated misdemeanors has reignited a debate over how to maintain the proper balance between community safety and constitutional freedoms.

That was reflected in passage last year of the bill 84-15 in the House and 29-20 in the Senate. Opponents to the bill were a collection of some of the Legislatures most liberal and conservative members.

Iowa, as with several states, collects DNA from felons. Last year, the Legislature voted to expand that to adults convicted of most aggravated misdemeanors. The effective date was delayed until this year to allow law enforcement agencies to prepare for implementation.

Pulkrabek has no qualms about sampling and no doubts about its benefits.

When you look at the universe of people who are charged with criminal offenses, if you just look at just the universe of felons, its a small universe, Pulkrabek said. When you expand it by aggravated misdemeanors, it grows substantially.

The other benefit, according to Linn County Sheriffs Office Col. John Stuekle, is that hes seen many cases of felons getting rearrested on misdemeanor charges.

They may be done dealing with the Department of Corrections, so they were slipping through the cracks and their DNA may not be caught and put into the database, he said.

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New law: Iowa to expand DNA collection from criminals