Sponsors
The bill aims to speed criminal DNA matching and relieve public‑lab backlogs by allowing accredited private labs to submit profiles to CODIS—improving investigations and potential crime prevention—while increasing privacy risks, compliance costs, and oversight challenges that must be managed through effective safeguards.
Law‑enforcement agencies will get qualifying DNA profiles uploaded faster because accredited private forensic labs can submit directly to CODIS, speeding investigations and identifications.
State and local governments and criminal cases will see lower public‑lab backlogs and faster evidence processing because some testing can be shifted to accredited private labs.
Victims and taxpayers may benefit from reduced future crime and associated costs because faster offender identification can prevent additional violent crimes.
Individuals whose DNA is entered face expanded privacy and civil‑liberties risks because allowing private labs to upload profiles increases the number of non‑government entities with access to sensitive genetic data.
Innocent people and investigations are at greater risk because expanding submissions increases the chance of erroneous or low‑quality uploads and false matches that can produce misleading leads or wrongful implications.
State and local governments and taxpayers may face higher costs because jurisdictions will need to certify/monitor vendors or pay for private testing, and private labs (especially small/new ones) will incur substantial compliance costs.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Accredited private forensic DNA labs may directly submit qualifying DNA profiles to the FBI's national DNA index (NDIS) under DOJ/FBI regulations and safeguards.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Troy E. Nehls · Last progress March 12, 2026
Allows accredited, privately owned forensic DNA laboratories to directly submit qualifying DNA profiles to the FBI’s national DNA index (NDIS) under DOJ/FBI rules and security safeguards. The Department of Justice and FBI must publish implementing regulations within six months and update relevant NDIS policies so private labs can make uploads but cannot search or retrieve records.