Gov. Scott Walker plans to include a proposal in the next budget allowing for law enforcement officers to collect DNA at the time of arrest for some felonies and sex-related crimes. 

Walker, following the signing of a bill increasing the penalty for repeat offenders of domestic violence, spoke Monday at the Department of Justice Madison Crime Laboratory about the plan, which he said would help bring closure to the families and friends of victims. 

“[It] would provide an added tool for law enforcement professionals in the state of Wisconsin seeking to make matches with yet unsolved cases. … DNA evidence in particular, we believe, can be an enhancement for solving those cases in the days, weeks, months and years to come,” Walker said. 

Walker said people who have committed crimes in the past will typically commit crimes again. He added the use of DNA evidence could also help prove innocence. 

Walker said when Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, approached him about the issue, he met with Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to create a long-term program ensuring all law enforcement officials were active participants in building the database. 

Van Hollen said he had made it the Department of Justice’s top priority to make sure their databases are up to date. 

“We got an opportunity now to take the next step,” Van Hollen said. “The next step, called ‘DNA at arrest’ … gives us the opportunity to get more names of people in that databank, who can be very likely linked to crimes, to help us solve those crimes.”

He said the reason why the proposal currently is not a law is because DOJ did not approach it in this manner. He said criticisms of the process concern its legality and constitutionality, whether it is possible to fund the program and administrative issues with how the government should implement the policy across the state. 

He said by knowing Harsdorf would support the legislation and the plan will be covered in the Walker’s budget, the DOJ can draft a plan that will stand up to constitutional challenge, while ensuring it will function smoothly in the public safety community. 

Jayann Sepich, who spearheaded a national effort to require similar laws after her daughter was raped, murdered and set on fire, also spoke at the announcement. 

Sepich, who is from New Mexico, said if DNA had been taken at arrest they would have found her daughter’s killer three years sooner. She said 25 states already require DNA at the time of arrest.

“Wisconsin needs to be the 26th state,” Sepich said. “We’ve seen the power of arrest DNA at work. In my home state, there have been almost 300 cases matched to arrest DNA, and that’s with a state with a population less than two million. Three hundred families and victims that are getting their day of justice sooner rather than later.” 

She said if DNA is taken at the arrest, fewer people would be falsely accused, arrested and sent to prison. She also said requiring DNA would not cost the state money, but actually save it because it is the most efficient way to get results.

Van Hollen and Walker would not give an exact figure of the program’s cost.