A bill that would have required a DNA sample to be taken from anyone arrested on a felony charge in Georgia was revamped after several lawmakers questioned its constitutionality.
Senate Bill 80, which was changed in a House committee last week to require only that a swab of saliva be taken from all convicted felons, is in the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.
Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, has argued that Georgia has isolated itself from its surrounding Southeastern states, which require DNA sampling at the point of a felony arrest and have matched some of those arrested to previously unsolved crimes.
“We need to have a real serious debate about what the priorities of government are,” McKoon said. “I don’t think it gets more basic than keeping people safe.”
Now, 24 states require DNA testing upon a felony arrest, including Tennessee, he said.