34 U.S.C. § 12592 — Index to facilitate law enforcement exchange of DNA identification information

(a) Establishment of index. The FBI Director may set up an index containing: (1) DNA identification records for (A) people convicted of crimes, (B) people charged with a crime in an indictment or information, and (C) other people whose DNA was collected under legal authority — except that DNA voluntarily given only to rule people out cannot go into the National DNA Index System; (2) DNA analyses recovered from crime scenes; (3) DNA analyses from unidentified human remains; and (4) DNA analyses voluntarily given by relatives of missing persons. (b) Information. The index can only include DNA records and analyses that are: (1) based on tests done by or for a criminal justice agency (or the Secretary of Defense, under section 1565 of title 10), following public standards that meet or beat the quality assurance guidelines the FBI Director issued under section 12591; (2) prepared either (A) by labs that are accredited by a nationally recognized nonprofit forensic science association and get outside audits at least every two years proving they meet the Director's standards, or (B) by criminal justice agencies using Rapid DNA instruments the Director has approved under section 12591(a)(5); and (3) kept by federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies (or the Secretary of Defense) under rules that only allow disclosure (A) to criminal justice agencies for identification in law enforcement work, (B) in court proceedings, if otherwise admissible, (C) to a defendant, for defense purposes, covering the samples and analyses tied to that defendant's own case, or (D) with personally identifiable information stripped out, for population statistics, identification research, protocol development, or quality control. (c) Failure to comply. Access to the index can be cancelled if the quality control and privacy rules in subsection (b) are not followed. (d) Expungement of records. (1) By Director. (A) The FBI Director must promptly remove a person's DNA analysis from the index (i) if the person's conviction for a qualifying federal or District of Columbia offense is overturned, and the Director gets a certified copy of the final court order for each such conviction, or (ii) if the person was arrested under U.S. authority and the Attorney General gets a certified copy of a final court order showing each charge was dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or was never filed in time. (B) A "qualifying offense" means a qualifying federal offense under section 40702, a qualifying D.C. offense under section 40703, or a qualifying military offense under section 1565 of title 10. (C) A court order does not count as "final" while an appeal or request for discretionary review is still possible. (2) By States. (A) To keep access to the index, a state must promptly remove a person's DNA analysis that it added, if (i) the state gets a certified copy of a final court order showing the person's conviction was overturned, for each such conviction, or (ii) the person was never convicted, and the state gets a certified copy of a final court order showing each charge was dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or was never filed in time. (B) Again, a court order is not "final" while an appeal or discretionary review is still possible.