Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is calling on the legislature to pass a law requiring the collection of DNA from adults arrested for felonies or aggravated misdemeanors.
All 50 states require DNA testing of adults convicted of felonies. Over 30 states have also passed DNA collection requirements from those arrested for violent crimes. They’re all named “Katie’s Law,” for a 22-year-old woman who was brutally attacked and murdered in New Mexico. Suzana Martinez, the former governor of New Mexico, joined Bird at a statehouse news conference Tuesday.
Martinez was the district attorney who tried the case against the man who killed Katie Sepich, once the DNA he submitted following a conviction for a different crime matched the DNA material found under Katie Sepich’s fingernails. Martinez says by requiring DNA collection at the time of an arrest, Katie’s Law turns every booking station into a doorway to justice for a cold case.
Bird’s also proposing a bill that would let children and adults who are victims of sex crimes get a lifetime no-contact order.
Under current law, criminal no-contact orders usually last a year. Bird also wants to change confidentiality rules and let a crime victim’s counselor notify law enforcement if they believe there’s an immediate risk of harm to their client or someone connected to their client. Mary Ingham is Executive Director of Crisis Intervention Services, which serves crime victims in 15 north central Iowa counties.
Bird’s also seeking a tougher felony charge against some accused of threatening an Iowa judge or their family.
