The Virginia House Rules Committee tabled a proposed bill that would have studied the advantages of expanding the state’s DNA databank for criminals. Currently, the databank requires all convicted felons to register their DNA samples, while only necessitating a select number of people convicted of misdemeanors to register theirs.
The bill, HJ 711, would have analyzed the effects of broadening the spectrum of misdemeanor crimes calling for the listing of their perpetrators.
The parents of Hannah Graham — a University student who was murdered by Jesse Matthew Jr. in 2014 — supported the bill. They argued Matthew would have been connected to an attempted homicide in 2005 when he was convicted of trespassing in 2010, allowing the police subdue him long before he murdered their daughter.
Del. John Bell (D-Sterling), a patron of HJ 711, said the bill’s intention was to study rather than implement the widening of the misdemeanor registration spectrum. He also said such expansions have provided benefits in the past, agreeing with the assertion made by the parents of Hannah Graham.
“The bill to enact the use of DNA was started in 1989, and it has included five expansions before now, and each one of those expansions was able to do exactly what the victim’s parents are talking about. It’s able to definitively provide the evidence needed for conviction,” Bell said. “It is also, by collecting DNA samples from convicted felons, able to basically connect them to more unsolved crimes. It’s shown to be a good tool for law enforcement.”
Bell noted a subsidiary benefit of DNA collection was its ability to prevent incorrect trial verdicts.
“I think another very important element is it’s also a great tool for protecting the innocent, and proving someone’s innocence,” Bell said.
Despite the benefits Bell highlighted, HJ 711, along with every other study-related bill, failed to pass through the Virginia House Rules Committee. Because of this blanket termination, Bell said he does not feel the bill was specifically targeted.
Another co-patron of HJ 711, Del. Steven Landes (R-Bath) — whose district includes part of Albemarle County — said several local officials also demonstrated support for the bill.
“Albemarle County Attorney Robert Tracci and Albemarle Sheriff J.E. ‘Chip’ Harding have both been strong advocates of HJ 711,” Landes said in an email statement.
With regard to why the bill was stopped in the Rules Committee, Landes said budgetary concerns played a central role.
“It has been determined that there will be no studies commissioned in the 2017 General Assembly session,” Landes said. “We always have difficult decisions to make during session, and this year’s budget shortfall has further complicated that.”
However, Landes said the study bill might still be implemented through other means.
“We are working to ask the [Virginia State Crime] Commission, which can undertake this study on its own authority, if it will do so, and are submitting a letter requesting them to do just that,” Landes said.
Even if this bypass method does not work, the recent tabling of HJ 711 does not necessarily signal a permanent end. Bell said he plans to reintroduce the bill next year, when he believes conditions may be more favorable for it to pass.
“Virginia passes two-year budgets. Next year will be the first year of a two-year budget, so I think it will have a much greater chance of it being approved then,” Bell said.
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