I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3591 
To establish a grant program for certain State and local forensic activities, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2025 
Mr. HUNT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a grant program for certain State and local 
forensic activities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Carla Walker Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO IMPROVE FORENSIC ACTIVITIES. 
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘PART PP—GRANTS TO IMPROVE FORENSIC 
ACTIVITIES 
‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this part: 
‘‘(1) FORENSIC ANALYSIS.—The term ‘forensic 
analysis’ means an expert examination or test— 
‘‘(A) required by a law enforcement agen-
cy, a prosecutor, a criminal suspect or defend-
ant, or a relevant court; and 
‘‘(B) performed on physical evidence, in-
cluding DNA evidence, for the purpose of deter-
mining the connection of the evidence to a 
criminal act. 
‘‘(2) FORENSIC
LABORATORY.—The term ‘fo-
rensic laboratory’ means a facility, entity, or site ac-
credited or pursuing accreditation as described in 
section 3062(d)(1)(C)(iii) that— 
‘‘(A) offers or performs forensic analysis; 
and 
‘‘(B) follows relevant chain of custody re-
quirements for authentication by an appropriate 
court. 
‘‘SEC. 3062. DNA ANALYSIS GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 
‘‘(1) a State; 
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‘‘(2) a Tribal or local law enforcement agency; 
‘‘(3) a prosecutor’s office with a forensic labora-
tory capability; 
‘‘(4) a medical examiner’s office; and 
‘‘(5) a coroner’s office. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF GRANTS.—The Attorney 
General may award a competitive grant to an eligible enti-
ty for the purpose of using any technology used in a foren-
sic laboratory— 
‘‘(1) in order to conduct whole genome sequenc-
ing technology to assess at least 100,000 genetic 
markers; and 
‘‘(2) that is compatible with multiple genea-
logical databases permitted to be used by law en-
forcement agencies under this part to generate in-
vestigative leads for criminal investigations or un-
identified human remains. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney Gen-
eral an application at such time and in such form as the 
Attorney General may require. 
‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use amounts 
from the grant for any of the following activities: 
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‘‘(A) To carry out DNA analyses of sam-
ples collected under applicable legal authority 
using the technology described in subsection (b) 
if the submission of such samples to the Com-
bined DNA Index System has failed to produce 
investigative leads. 
‘‘(B) To carry out DNA analyses of un-
identified human remains reasonably believed 
by investigators to be the remains of a sus-
pected homicide victim using the technology de-
scribed in subsection (b) if submission of such 
samples to the Combined DNA Index System 
has failed to provide an identity. 
‘‘(C) To outsource an activity described in 
subparagraph (A) or (B) for the use of tech-
nology described in subsection (b) and search-
ing to— 
‘‘(i) an accredited publicly funded fo-
rensic laboratory; 
‘‘(ii) an accredited nongovernmental 
forensic laboratory; or 
‘‘(iii) a nongovernmental forensic lab-
oratory that attests to the Attorney Gen-
eral, in a manner that is legally binding 
and enforceable, that the nongovernmental 
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forensic laboratory will prepare and apply 
for such accreditation not later than 2 
years after the date on which the non-
governmental laboratory first receives a re-
quest for analysis from an eligible entity 
receiving a grant under this section. 
‘‘(2) DOJ POLICY.—An activity carried out 
using amounts from a grant under this section shall 
be carried out consistent with the policy of the De-
partment of Justice entitled ‘Interim Policy on Fo-
rensic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Searching’ 
and dated November 1, 2019, or any successor pol-
icy, including with respect to communication be-
tween custodial Combined DNA Index System lab-
oratories and vendor laboratories. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out 
this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
through 2028. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON USE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated 
to carry out this section— 
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‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (B), 
shall only be made available to carry out 
forensic genetic genealogical analysis; and 
‘‘(ii) shall not be made available for 
staffing, training, travel, and equipment. 
‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Attor-
ney General may use not more than 10 percent 
of amounts appropriated to carry out this sec-
tion for administrative costs. 
‘‘SEC. 3063. GRANTS TO PURCHASE FORENSIC EQUIPMENT 
ENABLED FOR FORENSIC GENETIC GENE-
ALOGY DNA ANALYSIS AND SEARCHING. 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 
‘‘(1) a publicly funded and accredited forensic 
laboratory; 
‘‘(2) a medical examiner’s office; and 
‘‘(3) a coroner’s office. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF GRANTS.—The Attorney 
General may award a grant to an eligible entity for the 
purpose of purchasing equipment to deploy forensic ge-
netic genealogical DNA analysis and searching to generate 
investigative leads for criminal investigations or unidenti-
fied human remains. 
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‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney Gen-
eral an application at such time and in such form as the 
Attorney General may require. 
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 
a grant under this section shall use amounts from the 
grant to purchase forensic equipment, including supplies, 
reagents, consumables, and validation expenses, to deploy 
forensic genetic genealogy techniques, as defined in the In-
terim Policy on Forensic Genealogical DNA Analysis and 
Search of the Department of Justice dated November 1, 
2019, or any successor policy, as applicable. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 
to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028. 
‘‘SEC. 3064. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 
‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro-
mulgate guidelines, regulations, and procedures to carry 
out this part, including guidelines, regulations, and proce-
dures relating to the submission and review of applications 
for grants under sections 3062 and 3063. 
‘‘(b) ACCOUNTABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) RECORDS.—An eligible entity that receives 
a grant under this part shall maintain such records 
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as the Attorney General may require to facilitate an 
effective audit relating to the receipt of the grant, 
the use of amounts from the grant, outsourcing ac-
tivities, and compliance with section VIII, entitled 
‘Sample and Data Control and Disposition’, of the 
Interim Policy on Forensic Genealogical DNA Anal-
ysis and Search of the Department of Justice dated 
November 1, 2019, or any successor policy. 
‘‘(2) ACCESS.—For the purpose of conducting 
audits and examinations, the Attorney General shall 
have access to any book, document, or record of an 
eligible entity that receives a grant under this sec-
tion, a State or unit of local government within 
which the eligible entity operates, and any entity to 
which the eligible entity outsources work using 
amounts from the grant if the Attorney General de-
termines that the book, document, or record relates 
to— 
‘‘(A) the receipt of the grant; 
‘‘(B) the use of amounts from the grant; 
or 
‘‘(C) compliance with section VIII, entitled 
‘Sample and Data Control and Disposition’, of 
the Interim Policy on Forensic Genealogical 
DNA Analysis and Search of the Department of 
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Justice dated November 1, 2019, or any suc-
cessor policy. 
‘‘(3) SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT.—In car-
rying out this part, the Attorney General shall com-
ply with part 180 of title 2, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor regulation. 
‘‘SEC. 3065. REPORTS. 
‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date on which an 
eligible entity receives a grant under section 3062 or 3063, 
the eligible entity shall submit to the Attorney General a 
report that includes— 
‘‘(1) the amount of funding the eligible entity 
receives from the grant each fiscal year; 
‘‘(2) the number of cases for which the eligible 
entity performed testing using forensic genealogical 
DNA analysis during the previous year; 
‘‘(3) the type of forensic genetic genealogical 
DNA testing performed by the eligible entity, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(A) the name of any laboratory to which 
the eligible entity outsources the testing; 
‘‘(B) the type of equipment used for the 
testing; and 
‘‘(C) the results of the testing, such as 
whether the testing resulted in successful victim 
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or perpetrator identification or no identification 
and the time it took to make the identification; 
‘‘(4) the number of cases in which forensic ge-
netic genealogical DNA analysis— 
‘‘(A) resulted in a searchable profile in a 
publicly available genealogy database; 
‘‘(B) generated a victim or perpetrator 
identification; 
‘‘(C) did not generate a victim or perpe-
trator identification; and 
‘‘(D) directly resulted in an arrest or vic-
tim identification; and 
‘‘(5) the average number of days it took to 
make an identification between the date of sample 
submission for forensic genetic genealogical DNA 
testing and the date of delivery of test results to the 
requesting office or agency.’’. 
SEC. 3. DOJ REPORT. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Forensic Laboratory Needs Working Group of the Na-
tional Institute of Justice, shall submit to Congress a re-
port— 
(1) on the awards and practices reported the 
Attorney General under section 3064 of title I of the 
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Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968, as added by this Act; 
(2) on forensic genetic genealogy technologies 
and how best to implement forensic genetic gene-
alogy into publicly funded forensic laboratories; and 
(3) that includes recommendations for— 
(A) implementing forensic investigative ge-
netic genealogy technology, including expected 
funding needs; and 
(B) necessary regulations for the use of fo-
rensic investigative genetic genealogy tech-
nology. 
Æ 
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