What are lawfully owed DNA samples (LODNA)?

Lawfully Owed DNA refers to DNA that should have been collected from someone because they were arrested or convicted of certain crimes. Laws require this DNA to be collected and processed, but it doesn’t always happen.

Once collected, the DNA is processed in government labs and uploaded into CODIS, a national database run by the FBI. CODIS contains over 25 million DNA profiles from people who’ve been arrested, convicted, or whose DNA was found at crime scenes.

Collecting these samples is the responsibility of various agencies, typically local jails, state prisons, or federal facilities. But here’s the problem: the system is full of gaps. Many states have been missing tens of thousands of DNA samples they were supposed to collect. It’s estimated that each state has failed to collect DNA from around 40,000 to 50,000 individuals.

California’s numbers are even more shocking. A 2011 audit found that over 1 million people who had been convicted of a felony never gave a DNA sample, even though the law required it. That includes nearly 65,000 people on the sex and arson registry and 9,000 samples that were collected but couldn’t be processed properly in the lab.

These missing DNA samples mean that known offenders may be walking free — and that justice is delayed or denied for victims.

The rules for collecting Lawfully Owed DNA (LODNA) vary from state to state — and some of that inconsistency comes from confusion or outdated ideas about DNA. In some places, there are strong concerns about privacy, mistrust of law enforcement, or fears about government misuse of genetic information. Many of the current laws were written decades ago, back when DNA testing for criminal investigations was just getting started — and they haven’t been updated since.

Technology problems also play a role. When someone is arrested, their identity must be recorded correctly — including name, birth date, fingerprints, and criminal history. If the system shows their DNA is already in the database, another sample isn’t needed. But if this process fails, their DNA might never get collected. Even though all states agree that DNA is one of the most powerful tools for solving crimes, the process for collecting it is inconsistent and often inefficient.

This has had real consequences. Time and again, people who were previously arrested or convicted go on to commit terrible crimes — crimes that might have been prevented if their DNA had been in the system when it should have been.

The truth is, these system gaps have existed for decades. For a long time, there was no better option — but that’s changed. Like in many other industries, innovation can bridge gaps, identify opportunities, and propel advancements. In the world of criminal justice, this breakthrough comes from a different type of DNA testing that is then combined with advanced genetic genealogy called Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). For decades, ancestry-based testing has used DNA to build family trees and find family connections or members previously unknown or lost. From the 2018 arrest of the Golden State Killer until now, FIGG has gone from experimental to essential. This advanced use of genetics and science is starting with the evidence collected at a crime scene, locating distant family ancestry lines that share the DNA, providing investigative leads where none existed helping solve even the toughest cases.

Even if the traditional system has flaws and process breakdowns, it now doesn’t have to mean a stop or delay in justice. Society (we) can stand up and collectively hold these individuals accountable for their crimes by collecting, processing, and databasing our own individual DNA.

We can’t fix the individual state LODNA issues and breakdowns fast enough. This broken system is still going to miss collecting DNA from violent offenders and not stop them from offending again; however, we don’t have to just sit idly by and accept this unacceptable outcome. We can collectively stand up and put these predators on notice.

Thanks to this consumer-driven, advanced forensic DNA testing project that includes the proactive uploading of “our” crime-fighting DNA profiles to an opt-in database used only by law enforcement for uncovering ancestry-based genetic links to offender DNA collected at a given crime scene. This science-forward DNA testing innovation builds hundreds of DNA snip data files filled with identity-based, family, and ancestry genetic matching information uniquely passed down from parents to children or specifically inherited down a paternal or maternal family line. This process is purposely void of any medical DNA information simply because it is factually irrelevant for ancestry and unnecessarily complicates the process.

Predators and violent offenders are like the equivalent of a deadly plague negatively impacting communities worldwide–without prejudice. FIGG and identity-based DNA testing are like having a life-saving cure that prevents offenders from evading justice. The shared nature of human DNA means anyone can be traced, whether they are individually listed in the database or not.

We need your help to collectively grow our DNA database of opt-in profiles that are open to law enforcement searches, for the sole purpose of serving accountability and delivering timely justice. The more DNA profiles added to this crime-fighting consumer database, the easier and faster we can link crime scene evidence profiles, provide investigative leads, and deliver real answers to victims and their families.

If you have already taken an ancestry DNA test somewhere else, you can easily export your data file and upload it to our database for free. If you need to take a DNA test, we have options– click below to get started.