2023 House Bill 5271

House Fiscal Agency Analysis

House Bill 5271 would amend section 16 of Chapter X of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides guidelines under which a person convicted of a felony may petition the circuit court to order DNA testing of biological material identified during the investigation leading to the person’s conviction, and for a new trial based on the DNA testing results. The bill would define biological material, modify who can file such a petition, what the petition has to establish, when the court has to order DNA testing, what the results of the testing might mean, and how long any material that might one day be subject to testing has to be preserved. House Bill 5271 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on local court funding units. To the extent that there is an increase in the number of petitions filed in courts and a corresponding increase in the number of petitions granted by courts, costs would be incurred as a result of increased court caseloads and related administrative costs.