Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Illegal aliens and criminals convicted of a host of misdemeanor crimes would have their DNA put into a federal database under a bill approved Monday by the Oklahoma House that is named after a University of Oklahoma ballet student raped and killed in 1996.
The House voted 73-18 for Senate Bill 1102, which would add 18 new misdemeanors to the list of crimes that require offenders to submit a DNA sample. Any illegal alien arrested in the state also would be required to provide a sample. Under current law, DNA is taken only from convicted felons and those required to register as sex offenders.
"By casting a wider DNA net, I believe we will quickly identify individuals who have committed numerous crimes that remain unsolved," said Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, who amended the bill to include the new language. "Criminals don't usually confine themselves to one type of crime."
The amended bill approved Monday is dubbed Juli's Law in honor of Jewell "Juli" Busken, an OU student from Arkansas who was raped and murdered Dec. 20, 1996. Busken disappeared from her Norman apartment complex and was later found dead on the shore of Lake Stanley Draper in far southeast Oklahoma City.
