Familial Searching

National Implementation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation does not currently conduct familial searches, but has stated that individual states are free to decide for themselves whether to adopt the practice within their own jurisdictions. The only limitation this has for states is that their familial searches can only be conducted within their state-level databases (State DNA Index System - SDIS), not NDIS. Because 87% of offender hits occur within the state that the crime occurred in, familial searching limited to SDIS still provides substantial opportunities for success. In 2010, Congress considered a bill (United StatesH.B. 6011) that would allow national familial searches, but it did not make it out of committee.¹¹ Representative Adam Schiff (D. Cal), the bill’s sponsor, has commented that he would like to continue to explore familial DNA searches in 2011.¹²

¹¹ Library of Congress: Bill Text, 111th Congress (2009-2010), H.R.6011.IH Utilizing DNA Technology to Solve Cold Cases Act of 2010
¹² Schiff Congratulates the FBI on Eliminating the Backlog of Offender DNA