Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 137 - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE › Division 140 - COLLECTION, RETENTION, PRESERVATION AND CATALOGING OF BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE › Section 137-140-0010 - Policy and Purpose

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) The
			 integrity and significance of biological evidence in the detection,
			 apprehension, and prosecution of criminal offenders, as well as the exoneration
			 of persons wrongfully convicted of criminal offenses, is essential. The
			 integrity, admissibility, and use in criminal cases is therefore contingent on
			 the proper collection, preservation, retention, and cataloging of trace
			 biological evidence. In addition, current DNA technology allows for very small
			 amounts of biological evidence to be analyzed and tested for DNA and DNA
			 profiling and inadvertent contamination of biological evidence is therefore
			 possible if custodians who collect, retain, preserve, and catalogue biological
			 evidence do not take safety and contamination prevention precautions.
			 Accordingly, care must be taken to prevent contamination and loss of biological
			 evidence.
(2) Effective June 29,
			 2009, the Oregon legislature enacted Oregon Laws 2009, chapter 489 (Senate Bill
			 310) that required custodians to preserve biological evidence that is collected
			 as part of a criminal investigation into a covered offense or that was in the
			 possession of the custodian prior to any person being convicted of a covered
			 offense that could reasonably be used to incriminate or exculpate any person
			 for a covered offense. The legislature further required custodians to preserve
			 biological evidence in amounts and manners sufficient to develop a DNA profile
			 from such biological evidence.
(3)
			 Effective June 7, 2011, the Oregon legislature amended Senate Bill 310 (2009)
			 by Oregon Laws 2011, chapter 275 (Senate Bill 731) and enacted retention
			 periods, processes and procedures that custodians are required to follow for
			 the preservation and disposition of biological evidence. Additionally, the
			 legislature required the Oregon Attorney General to adopt administrative rules
			 that establishes the standards for the proper collection, retention,
			 preservation and cataloging of biological evidence applicable to criminal
			 investigations into, and criminal prosecution for, covered offenses. The Oregon
			 Attorney General is further required to adopt by administrative rule a standard
			 form for use by custodians when providing written notice to district attorneys
			 for early disposition of biological evidence for covered offenses.
(4) It is the policy of the Oregon Attorney
			 General that the best scientific methods should be used in the collection,
			 retention, preservation, and cataloguing of trace biological evidence. However,
			 when selecting detection, collection, preservation, retention, and cataloguing
			 methods and biological evidence processing sequences, custodians should
			 consider the circumstances of each case, the ambient conditions under which the
			 evidence is detected, the discriminatory power of the different detection and
			 collection techniques, and the need to preserve or collect other types of
			 evidence. Custodian personnel responsible for the detection and collection of
			 biological evidence should be aware that various types of evidence might be
			 present during the processing of a crime scene and that evidence other than
			 trace biological evidence may be more significant to a particular case and
			 therefore should be given higher priority. Custodians should contact the Oregon
			 State Police Forensic Services Division with any questions regarding best
			 scientific practices for the collection, retention, preservation, and
			 cataloguing of specific items of trace biological evidence not listed in these
			 administrative rules.
(5) These
			 administrative rules provide best practice scientific guidelines, procedures
			 and techniques for the collection, retention, preservation, and cataloguing of
			 trace biological evidence from crimes scenes, individuals, and items to be
			 submitted to the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division for testing,
			 analysis, or DNA profiling for covered offenses. Therefore, a custodian's
			 failure to follow a particular guideline or administrative rule should not be
			 construed as rendering subject biological evidence inadmissible in any judicial
			 or administrative proceeding. Instead, in the event of a custodian's failure to
			 follow a particular guideline or administrative rule, it remains within the
			 judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction to determine the relevance,
			 admissibility and weight to be given for any biological evidence.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
				  133.709
Stat. Implemented: ORS
				  133.705-133.717