West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 81 - State Police › Title 81 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE › Series 81-09 - West Virginia DNA Databank › Section 81-9-8 - The Monitoring, Inspection, and Prohibition on the Exchange of Information

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
In order to safeguard the donor's personal privacy, the
				  following standards shall apply to the gathering and exchange of
				  information:
8.1. Only the information
				required to generate investigative leads shall be entered into CODIS. Names,
				addresses, criminal histories or other personally identifiable information
				shall not be included.
8.2. The
				Biochemistry Section shall restrict access to DNA analysis records to criminal
				justice DNA laboratories participating in NDIS. The Biochemistry Section shall
				release a DNA record to other laboratories only when a potential DNA match is
				discovered. The Biochemistry Section may release identifying information only
				upon the verified request of an investigating law enforcement or governmental
				agency for limited purposes including law enforcement identification, judicial
				proceedings and identification of human remains or missing persons.
8.3. Samples, stripped of all identifying
				information, may be used by the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory
				for identification research, protocol development, quality control purposes and
				population statistics databases. These samples may also be provided to MUFSC
				for similar purposes.
8.4. The West
				Virginia DNA Databank computer software shall employ user authentication and
				access control. The software shall uniquely identify each user and all activity
				by a user shall be monitored. Transaction activities shall be monitored by the
				computer system to record when and by whom a deletion is made, who adds a file
				or who edited a file last. User authority shall be segregated to limit the
				activities that one user may perform as opposed to other users.
8.5. The computer housing the CODIS software
				shall employ user authentication and access control. The software shall
				uniquely identify each user. The CODIS Administrator or designee shall be
				responsible for limiting the activities one user may perform as opposed to
				other users.
8.6. Confirmation of
				in-state searches of CODIS shall be limited to open criminal cases or cases
				that are being actively investigated by a law enforcement agency. If a
				potential DNA match is identified, authorized Biochemistry Section personnel
				shall generate a match report. The match report maybe used to establish
				probable cause by the investigating agency to obtain a court order for the
				collection of a fresh reference sample.
8.7. The CODIS Administrator or designee
				shall ensure that all data entered into the Databank shall comply with the
				approved quality assurance guidelines of the State Police Crime Laboratory.
				Data from all points of entry, collection, storage, and testing shall be
				routinely monitored to insure its integrity.
8.8. A defendant is entitled only to his or
				her own DNA sample for the purposes of criminal defense or appeal.