RALEIGH—Fingerprints are no longer enough for North Carolina law authorities. Neither is a database containing the DNA of those convicted of violent crimes. House Bill 79, introduced by Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, and passed July 20 by the General Assembly, seeks to expand the state’s DNA registry to include DNA samples of all felons and those convicted of “certain other criminal offenses.” In addition, those individuals found innocent of a felony charge by reason of insanity would also be forced to submit their DNA for the registry.

The state’s DNA database has been in existence since 1994. For the last nine years, however, samples have been taken only from individuals convicted of murder, rape, or child molestation. The new proposal would force authorities to add DNA samples of those convicted of any felony, including nonviolent offenses. Also, any felons currently in jail who had not previously submitted samples would be added.

While the proposal would seriously expand the current database and the power of state government and its law enforcement, it is a step back from a bill proposed earlier in the year by Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland. Rand’s bill, SB7, which he introduced in January, called for the DNA samples of anyone arrested of any crime to be added to the state’s registry, treating a person’s DNA as fingerprints are now used.

But DNA is not the same thing as a fingerprint, and this is the chief concern of those who opposed Rand’s bill and who oppose HB79. The reason that DNA helps to solve crimes so successfully is that it contains a wealth of personal information about an individual’s health, heredity, and a variety of other things. But many observers are concerned the state should be allowed to have unlimited access to this type of information. In response to Rand’s bill, Sean Haugh, chairman of the state’s Libertarian Party said, “Once the state has your genes on file, sooner or later they’ll find plenty of reasons to dig deeper into your most personal secrets.”

The new bill took some of these concerns to heart and did address one privacy matter, implementing safeguards to prevent an individual’s DNA information from being leaked to insurance companies.

The dual concerns of cost and complexity also arise with the issue of registering tens of thousands of samples of DNA. The FBI, which maintains a database of violent criminals, has hundreds of thousands of DNA samples backlogged, still waiting for analysis. The N.C. Department of Justice has estimated that under the new legislation 47,000 felons would be tested in the first year, and that the yearly average after that would be about 30,000. The undertaking is expected to cost about $800,000.

In passing the bill, North Carolina will join 23 other states, including neighboring Virginia, in taking DNA samples from all felons.