SB29 requires the collection of a DNA sample from any person who is “arrested” for, not just charged with or convicted of, a “serious violent felony.”
The Senate passed SB29 on March 3, 2025, by a vote of 44 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill would unconstitutionally subject even innocent persons to mandatory DNA collection. In America, “due process of law” requires that a person be presumed innocent “until proven guilty.” Rather than provide for such a dangerous expansion of the statewide DNA database system and the threat it poses to justice and individual privacy, Georgia lawmakers should support, not undermine, the 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
