Search warrants: newborn screening program.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific information on the duration for which newborn blood samples must be kept by the department, nor does it detail what happens if a request is denied or how the annual report will be utilized.

Newborn Screening Program: Search Warrants

This law allows health officials to share parts of newborn blood samples with coroners or police if they need DNA evidence for certain crimes.

What This Bill Does

• Allows the Department of Public Health to give a part of a newborn's blood sample to a coroner when trying to identify unknown remains.
• Permits the department to provide a portion of a newborn’s blood sample to law enforcement with a search warrant if it is needed for DNA evidence in cases involving missing persons suspected to be victims of serious crimes like homicide, kidnapping, child abuse resulting in death, or manslaughter.
• Requires the Department of Public Health to report annually on how many requests and warrants they received related to newborn screening samples and how often they shared these samples.

Who It Names or Affects

• The State Department of Public Health
• Coroners investigating unidentified remains
• Law enforcement agencies seeking DNA evidence for specific crimes

Terms To Know

Search warrant

A legal document that allows police to search a place or seize items as part of an investigation.

Newborn screening program

A health program that tests newborn babies for certain genetic diseases and conditions.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how long the department must keep newborn blood samples.
• It is unclear what happens if a request from law enforcement or coroners is denied.
• The exact details of how the annual report will be used are not provided.

Official Summary Text

AB 2661, as introduced, Patterson.
Search warrants: newborn screening program.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a genetic disease unit to, among other responsibilities, promote a statewide program of information, testing, and counseling services related to genetic diseases, and administer that information, testing, and counseling to each child born in the state, as specified. Existing law requires all information obtained from persons involved in hereditary disorders programs to be held strictly confidential.
Existing law sets forth the grounds and procedures for the issuance of a search warrant and authorizes the issuance of a search warrant upon specified grounds, including that the property or things to be seized consist of an item or constitute evidence that tends to show a felony has been committed or that a particular person has committed a felony.
This bill would authorize the department to release a portion of the newborn blood specimen card taken from a newborn pursuant to a formal request from a coroner to identify unidentified human remains or to law enforcement in response to a search warrant if the objective of the warrant is to obtain the DNA of a missing person suspected to be a victim of homicide, kidnapping, child abuse resulting in death, or manslaughter.
Existing law requires the department, commencing July 1, 2026, to annually generate a report to the Legislature regarding the newborn screening program, including, among other things, the number of new residual screening specimens collected during the previous calendar year.
This bill also would require the report to include the number of requests from a coroner and search warrants received by the department and the number of disclosures granted in response to those
requests and warrants.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF