S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4496
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 16, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, AUBRY, COOK, COLTON, McDONOUGH -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the classification
procedure and use of DNA samples to identify unidentified dead and
missing persons
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 838 of the executive law, as
amended by chapter 153 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
follows:
1. Every county medical examiner and coroner shall promptly furnish
the division and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
created by the Office of Justice Program's National Institute of
Justice, with copies of fingerprints on standardized eight inch by eight
inch fingerprint cards or the equivalent digital image, SHALL FURNISH
THE NEW YORK STATE POLICE FORENSIC LABORATORY PROMPTLY WITH DNA SAMPLES
OF DECEASED PERSONS OR UNIDENTIFIED BODY PARTS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CLAS-
SIFICATION, WHICH SAMPLES SHALL THEN BE FORWARDED BY THE STATE POLICE
FORENSIC LABORATORY TO THE DIVISION FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPARISON AND
FILING, AND SHALL FURNISH THE DIVISION PROMPTLY WITH personal
descriptions and other identifying data, including date and place of
death, of all deceased persons whose deaths are in a classification
requiring inquiry by the medical examiner or coroner where the deceased
is not identified or the medical examiner or coroner is not satisfied
with the decedent's identification. The division shall promptly make
available personal descriptions and other identifying data, including
date and place of death, of such deceased persons to all law enforcement
agencies in the state, and upon request, to law enforcement agencies
outside of the state. THE DIVISION SHALL FORWARD SUCH RECORDS REGARDING
SUCH DECEASED PERSONS OR UNIDENTIFIED BODY PARTS TO THE NATIONAL CRIME
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09058-01-3
A. 4496 2
INFORMATION CENTER UPON SUCH CENTER ADOPTING A POLICY TO ACCEPT SUCH
RECORDS.
§ 2. Subdivision 4 of section 838 of the executive law, as added by
chapter 670 of the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:
4. The division shall compare the fingerprints AND DNA SAMPLES
received from the county medical examiners or coroners to fingerprints
AND DNA BAND PATTERNS on file with the division for purposes of attempt-
ing to determine the identity of the deceased. Other descriptive data
supplied with the fingerprints shall also be compared to records main-
tained by the division concerning missing persons. The division shall
submit the results of the comparisons to the appropriate medical examin-
er or coroner and if a tentative or positive identification is made, to
the law enforcement authority which submitted the report of the missing
person.
§ 3. Section 995-d of the executive law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3. ALL RECORDS, FINDINGS, REPORTS AND RESULTS OF DNA TESTING PERFORMED
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OR FOUR OF SECTION EIGHT HUNDRED THIRTY-
EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION, AND SHALL BE TREATED IN A MANNER CONSISTENT WITH SUBDIVISIONS
FIVE, SIX, SEVEN AND EIGHT OF SECTION NINE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE-C OF THIS
ARTICLE.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the first of the calendar month
next succeeding the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.