Governor Gavin Newsom signed a groundbreaking California law in mid-July that targets the state’s Missing Persons DNA Program.
Assembly Bill 2018, authored by Assemblymember James C. Ramos, D-San Bernardino, addresses missing persons and DNA testing.
Governor Newsom signed the bill on July 16.
The law could help law enforcement agencies solve missing persons cases, both new and cold, by loosening guardrails on the state’s DNA program.
Through DNA testing services to identify missing persons, the program lightens the load on local agencies.
Existing law required the Department of Justice to develop a DNA database for cases involving unidentified deceased persons or high-risk missing persons, but amendments will eliminate provisions for reporting “high-risk” missing persons and expand the use of the database for all cases of unidentified persons.
“The ‘high risk’ provision was an additional hoop that families of missing persons needed to meet and it contributed to a slower response in closing cold cases,” Ramos told The Center Square in an email.
The change removes a critical barrier.
Previously, the program’s DNA database could only be used to identify deceased individuals, but the law makes it more robust, allowing the database to identify all unidentified victims, alive or dead.
In addition to broadening the scope of the database, the law also keeps relevant DNA on file for longer.
The law authorizes the retention of DNA if the identified remains are incomplete and there is a reasonable expectation that additional remains requiring identification may be found in the future.
The California Department of Justice Missing Persons DNA Program, established in 2001, is responsible for providing DNA testing to address all cases of missing and unidentified persons throughout the state.
The MPDP works with coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies from all of California’s 58 counties to ensure that all cases have been submitted for DNA testing.
Assemblymember Ramos says the new law is crucial to making forensic technology more accessible, which solves cases “plaguing” communities.
The expansion to the DNA database’s reach comes as Northern California agencies are attempting to use the latest forensic technology to solve their cold cases, with the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force formed in 2020 to take a fresh look at the county’s cold cases through the lens of advanced DNA analysis technology.
“Any missing person case — adult, child, MMIP, or otherwise — is one too many. No family should know the prolonged uncertainty of waiting for answers, and together we’re making it clear that California takes action,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“AB 2018 is the right tool at the right time that will advance California’s ability to resolve missing persons cases and rekindle hope.”
State Senator Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, supported the legislation in an email, writing “Every missing person leaves behind a family living with unimaginable uncertainty and grief. Parents, children, spouses, and siblings deserve answers, not decades of wondering what happened to someone they love.”
The bill sailed through the legislature.
The California State Senate passed the bill as part of the consent calendar and passed unanimously without debate.
At the time of publication, California’s missing person database listed 3,118 missing persons.
The MPDP compares DNA from unidentified persons with DNA from personal articles belonging to missing persons and DNA from relatives of missing persons with the sole purpose of contributing to the effort of identifying missing persons and bringing closure to their families.
The law builds on the program’s track record.
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in March 2024 that the California Department of Justice’s Missing Persons DNA Program has identified over 2,000 missing persons since its establishment in 2001.
The law is set to take effect January 1, 2027.