Plain English Breakdown
The effective date is not listed in the provided official text.
AB-1063: Releasing Newborn Blood Tests for Missing Person Cases
This law allows health officials to share newborn blood samples with police only when a search warrant is used to find DNA from missing people suspected of being victims of homicide, fatal child abuse, or manslaughter.
What This Bill Does
- Allows the Department of Public Health to give physical newborn blood tests to law enforcement if they present a valid search warrant for specific crimes.
- Limits this release to cases where officials seek DNA from a missing person suspected as a victim of homicide, child abuse resulting in death, or manslaughter.
- Requires that any released sample be compared with other samples in the Department of Justice Missing Persons DNA Database and uploaded for future identification.
- Adds new reporting rules requiring officials to count how many search warrants they receive and how many times they share blood tests.
Who It Names or Affects
- The State Department of Public Health
- Law enforcement agencies seeking DNA evidence
Terms To Know
- Search warrant
- A legal order from a judge that allows police to search for and take specific items as evidence.
- Newborn screening program
- A state system that tests babies shortly after birth to check for genetic diseases or health problems.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law does not specify an effective date in the provided text.
- It only allows sharing blood samples for specific serious crimes involving missing persons, not for other types of investigations.