Thirty-four states and the federal government authorize DNA collection from people who have been arrested but not yet convicted of a crime.1National Conference of State Legislatures. DNA Collection After Arrest Laws The remaining states wait until a conviction before taking a sample. What arrest triggers collection, whether refusal is itself a crime, and how easily you can later get the profile removed all depend on where the arrest happens.
The 34 States That Collect DNA at Arrest
The states that authorize arrestee DNA collection include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others.1National Conference of State Legislatures. DNA Collection After Arrest Laws The rest of the states collect DNA only after a conviction.
The count understates the variation. High-population states drive most of the profiles in the national database: California alone has contributed over one million arrestee samples, and Florida and Texas account for large shares as well.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS-NDIS Statistics Some states on the list have produced comparatively few profiles. Whether an arrest results in a swab depends on your state and the charge.
Which Arrests Trigger a Swab
Most of the 34 states require DNA collection after a felony arrest, but the definition of a triggering felony is not uniform.1National Conference of State Legislatures. DNA Collection After Arrest Laws Some states collect after any felony arrest. Others limit the requirement to specific categories such as homicide, sexual assault, burglary, or robbery. A smaller group extends collection to some misdemeanor arrests, particularly sex offenses.
The same arrest for the same conduct can therefore lead to DNA collection in one state and no swab in the next. Consent is not part of the process. When the charge falls within the state’s list of triggering offenses, the buccal swab happens during booking alongside fingerprinting and photographing.
Federal Arrests and Immigration Detention
Federal law goes further than any state’s. Under 34 U.S.C. § 40702, the Attorney General may collect DNA from anyone arrested, facing charges, or convicted under federal authority, and from non-citizens detained by the United States.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 U.S. Code 40702 – Collection and Use of DNA Identification Information The implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 28.12, makes collection mandatory for every federal agency that arrests or detains people, including immigration enforcement.4eCFR. 28 CFR 28.12 – Collection of DNA Samples
The regulation exempts a narrow group of non-citizens: those lawfully in the country or being processed for lawful admission, those briefly held at a port of entry and not subject to further proceedings, and those held during maritime interdiction.4eCFR. 28 CFR 28.12 – Collection of DNA Samples Outside those exceptions, federal DNA collection does not depend on the arrest involving a violent or serious offense.
What Happens if You Refuse
Refusing to cooperate with a federal DNA collection is a class A misdemeanor under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, so refusal itself can become a new charge on top of whatever led to the arrest. Federal law also allows officers to use “reasonably necessary” means to detain, restrain, and collect the sample from anyone who refuses.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 U.S. Code 40702 – Collection and Use of DNA Identification Information
State-level penalties vary. Some states treat refusal as its own misdemeanor. Others rely on the practical reality that a person in booking custody has limited ability to physically resist a cheek swab. Refusing rarely stops the collection, and it often adds a charge.
How the Sample Is Taken and Stored
Collection is a buccal swab, a cotton-tipped stick rubbed along the inside of the cheek. It takes seconds. The swab is then sent to a forensic laboratory where the DNA is analyzed at 20 specific genetic markers, the CODIS core loci, to generate a numerical profile.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS and NDIS Fact Sheet
That profile goes into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the FBI-maintained network that connects state and federal DNA databases through more than 190 forensic laboratories.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Combined DNA Index System As of late 2025, CODIS held roughly 6.1 million arrestee profiles.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS-NDIS Statistics
The 20 markers used were chosen because they have no known association with medical conditions. The stored record contains the profile itself, the submitting agency’s identifier, a specimen number, and the personnel who did the analysis. It does not contain your name, Social Security number, or other personal identifiers.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS and NDIS Fact Sheet Identity is matched by cross-referencing the specimen number back through the submitting agency.
Getting Your DNA Removed if You’re Not Convicted
An arrest that ends without a conviction does not automatically clear your profile from the database in most states. Roughly a dozen states are supposed to expunge the record automatically after charges are dropped or an acquittal is entered. In the rest of the 34 arrestee-collection states, you have to file a written request or petition with the relevant agency or court to get the profile removed.
Many eligible people never do. The result is that an unknown number of profiles belonging to people who were never convicted remain in CODIS. If you were arrested and swabbed but not convicted, expungement is worth pursuing, and the procedure depends on the state where the sample was taken.
Federal Expungement
For samples collected by federal agencies, including the military, people who were not convicted may request expungement. Active-duty service members route requests through their chain of command; former service members and civilians whose samples reached CODIS can request removal directly if they were not convicted of any offense.7Naval Criminal Investigative Service. DNA Expungement Civilian requests go to the FBI, which manages the national database.
Why Arrest-Stage Collection Is Legal
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the practice in Maryland v. King (2013), holding that a cheek swab taken from a person arrested for a serious offense is a reasonable booking procedure under the Fourth Amendment, comparable to fingerprinting or photographing. The case arose when a routine swab from Alonzo King, arrested on assault charges in Maryland, matched his DNA to an unsolved rape from six years earlier. The five-justice majority framed the swab as an identification tool. Four dissenting justices, in an opinion by Justice Scalia, argued that the identification rationale was a cover for investigative use, and that the ruling’s logic would extend the practice to progressively less serious arrests.8Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013) Since 2013, the number of collecting states has grown, and federal agencies apply their authority broadly.