Mandatory DNA Testing Bill Clears Cmte
Okla. Senate committee approves DNA testing bill
by SEAN MURPHY
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Anyone arrested in Oklahoma for a felony crime and some misdemeanors would be forced to submit a DNA sample to authorities under a bill approved Thursday by a Senate committee, despite concerns from civil libertarians that the measure goes too far.
The Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the bill by Sen. Clark Jolley, who said it was requested by a woman whose daughter’s 2004 rape and murder in Tulsa remains unsolved.
“She’s passionate about it,” said Jolley, R-Edmond. “She’s hoping to bring closure and make sure that whoever murdered her daughter doesn’t murder somebody else’s child.
“My belief is that if we do this, we will get rapists and murderers off the street more rapidly than if we don’t do it.”