The Combined DNA Index System

Report No. 01-26
September 17, 2001
Office of the Inspector General

As required by Government Auditing Standards, we tested FBI records pertaining to CODIS and CODIS records at the national, state, and local indexes to obtain reasonable assurance about the FBI's compliance with laws and regulations, that, if not complied with, we believe could have a material effect on CODIS operations. Compliance with laws and regulations applicable to CODIS records at the national index level is the responsibility of FBI management. In addition, we reviewed pertinent LIP grant documents to obtain reasonable assurance about the NIJ's compliance with laws and regulations, that, if not complied with, we believe could have a material effect on the administration of the LIP. Compliance with laws and regulations applicable to qualifying LIP applicants for grant eligibility and to the administration of the LIP grants is the responsibility of NIJ management. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence about compliance with laws and regulations. The pertinent legislation and the specific regulations it contains are as follows:

DNA Identification Act of 1994

The DNA Identification Act of 1994:

• authorized the FBI to establish and maintain the national index system;

• set guidelines for the inclusion of DNA profiles in the national index system and for the participation of state and local laboratories;

• set up the DNA Advisory Board, an entity that was to compose standards for quality assurance with which CODIS-participating laboratories would have to comply and which the Director of the FBI could then formally institute;

• specified several standards for those laboratories that receive LIP grant funds and laboratories that contribute profiles to the national index system, including privacy protection standards related to the information in the national index system;

• established criminal penalties for individuals who knowingly violate the privacy protection standards and provided that access to the national index system was subject to cancellation if the quality control and privacy requirements were not met;

• restricted LIP recipients to States and units of local governments or combinations thereof;

• limited the use of LIP grant funds to carrying out all or a substantial part of a program or project intended to develop or improve the capability to analyze DNA in a forensic laboratory;

• restricted the federal share of the LIP grants to 75 percent of the total cost of the project described in the application;

• limited LIP grant administrative expenses to 10 percent of the funds received;

• required that, for 5 years after the enactment of the DNA Identification Act, the FBI submit an annual report to Congress listing the results of the proficiency tests for FBI Laboratory personnel; and

• directed the NIJ to award a grant for up to $250,000 to determine if it was feasible to have a blind external proficiency testing program for forensic DNA analysis.

Privacy Act of 1974

The Privacy Act of 1974 required the FBI to publish a notice in the Federal Register concerning the proposal to establish a new system of records (specifically the national index system).

Coverdell Amendment

The Coverdell Amendment required the Attorney General to submit an implementation plan for collecting DNA samples from federal convicted sex offenders.

Our tests revealed that the FBI complied with all applicable legislation. As discussed in Finding No. 3, we noted that the NIJ did not comply with the DNA Identification Act of 1994 because one grantee received two grants that did not require it to provide matching funds.