Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (2026)
Collection of biological specimens for DNA analysis - Persons convicted of certain offenses - Condition of release from imprisonment
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "DNA analysis" means the process through which deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in a human biological specimen is analyzed and compared with DNA from another biological specimen for identification purposes.
- (b) When a court sentences a person convicted of violating or attempting to violate § 39-13-502, § 39-13-503, § 39-13-504, § 39-13-505, § 39-13-522, § 39-13-531 or § 39-15-302 or when a juvenile court adjudicates a person to be a delinquent child for violating or attempting to violate § 39-13-502, § 39-13-503, § 39-13-504, § 39-13-505, § 39-13-522, § 39-13-531 or § 39-15-302, it shall order the person to provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis as defined in subsection (a). If the person is not incarcerated at the time of sentencing, the order shall require the person to report to the probation division of the department charged by law with the supervision of probationers, which shall gather the specimen. If a probation officer is not available to gather the specimen, the court may designate a person to do so. The cost of taking, processing and storing the specimen shall be paid by the defendant and shall be collected by the probation officer in the same manner as other fees. If the person is incarcerated at the time of sentencing, the order shall require the chief administrative officer of the institution of incarceration to designate a qualified person to gather the specimen. The biological specimen shall be forwarded by the approved agency or entity collecting the specimen to the Tennessee bureau of investigation, which shall maintain it as provided in § 38-6-113. The court shall make the providing of the specimen a condition of probation or community correction if either is granted.
- (c) If a person convicted of violating or attempting to violate § 39-13-502, § 39-13-503, § 39-13-504, § 39-13-505, § 39-13-522 or § 39-15-302 and committed to the custody of the commissioner of correction for a term of imprisonment has not provided a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis as defined in subsection (a), the commissioner or the chief administrative officer of a local jail shall order the person to provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis before completion of the person's term of imprisonment. The biological specimen shall be forwarded by the approved agency or entity collecting the specimen to the Tennessee bureau of investigation which shall maintain it as provided in § 38-6-113. No person shall be released on parole or otherwise unless and until the person has provided the specimen required by this subsection (c).
- (d)
- (1) When a court sentences a person convicted of any felony offense committed on or after July 1, 1998, or any misdemeanor offense, the conviction for which requires the defendant to register as a sexual offender pursuant to chapter 39, part 2 of this title, on or after July 1, 2007, it shall order the person to provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis as defined in subsection (a). If the person is not incarcerated at the time of sentencing, the order shall require the person to report to the probation division of the department charged by law with the supervision of probationers, which shall gather the specimen. If a probation officer is not available to gather the specimen, the court may designate a person to do so. The cost of taking, processing and storing the specimen shall be paid by the defendant and shall be collected by the probation officer in the same manner as other fees. If the person is incarcerated at the time of sentencing, the order shall require the chief administrative officer of the institution of incarceration to designate a qualified person to gather the specimen. The biological specimen shall be forwarded by the approved agency or entity collecting the specimen to the Tennessee bureau of investigation, which shall maintain it as provided in § 38-6-113. The court shall make the providing of the specimen a condition of probation or community correction if either is granted.
- (2) If a person convicted of any felony offense or any applicable misdemeanor offense and committed to the custody of the commissioner of correction for a term of imprisonment or sentenced to a period of confinement in a county jail or workhouse has not provided a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis as defined in subsection (a), the commissioner or the chief administrative officer of a local jail may order the person to provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis before completion of the person's term of imprisonment. The biological specimen shall be forwarded by the approved agency or entity collecting the specimen to the Tennessee bureau of investigation, which shall maintain it as provided in § 38-6-113.
- (e)
- (1) When a person is arrested on or after January 1, 2008, for the commission of a violent felony as defined in subdivision (e)(3), the person shall have a biological specimen taken for the purpose of DNA analysis to determine identification characteristics specific to the person as defined in subsection (a). After a determination by a magistrate or a grand jury that probable cause exists for the arrest, but prior to the person's release from custody, the arresting authority shall take the sample using a buccal swab collection kit for DNA testing. The biological specimen shall be collected by the arresting authority in accordance with the uniform procedures established by the Tennessee bureau of investigation, pursuant to § 38-6-113 and shall be forwarded by the arresting authority to the Tennessee bureau of investigation, which shall maintain the sample as provided in § 38-6-113. The court or magistrate shall make the provision of a specimen a condition of the person's release on bond or recognizance if bond or recognizance is granted.
- (2) The clerk of the court in which the charges against a person described in subdivision (e)(1) are disposed of shall notify the Tennessee bureau of investigation of final disposition of the criminal proceedings. If the charge for which the sample was taken is dismissed or the defendant is acquitted at trial, then the bureau shall destroy the sample and all records of the sample; provided, that there is no other pending qualifying warrant or capias for an arrest or felony conviction that would otherwise require that the sample remain in the data bank.
- (3) As used in this subsection (e), "violent felony" means:
- (A) First or second degree murder;
- (B) Aggravated kidnapping or especially aggravated kidnapping;
- (C) Aggravated assault;
- (D) Aggravated child abuse;
- (E) Robbery, aggravated robbery or especially aggravated robbery;
- (F) Aggravated burglary or especially aggravated burglary;
- (G) Carjacking;
- (H) Sexual battery, sexual battery by an authority figure or aggravated sexual battery;
- (I) Statutory rape by an authority figure or aggravated statutory rape;
- (J) Rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child or aggravated rape of a child;
- (K) Aggravated arson;
- (L) Attempt, under § 39-12-101, to commit any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (M) Solicitation, under § 39-12-102, to commit any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (N) Conspiracy, under § 39-12-103, to commit any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (O) Criminal responsibility, under § 39-11-402(2), for any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (P) Facilitating the commission, under § 39-11-403, of any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (Q) Being an accessory after the fact, under § 39-11-411, to any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (e)(3);
- (R) Aggravated vehicular homicide;
- (S) Criminally negligent homicide;
- (T) Reckless homicide;
- (U) Vehicular homicide; or
- (V) Voluntary manslaughter.
Acts 1991, ch. 480, § 2; 1995, ch. 11, §§ 1, 2; 1995, ch. 131, §§ 2, 3; 1995, ch. 382, § 1; 1998, ch. 1028, §§ 1, 2; 2007 , ch. 77, §§ 1, 2; 2007 , ch. 225, § 2; 2010 , ch. 964, § 2; 2012 , ch. 965, § 1; 2012 , ch. 996, §§ 1, 2.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 25
cases (5 in the last 5 years), 2002–2025 · leading case: State v. Scarborough, 201 S.W.3d 607 (Tenn. 2006).
State v. Scarborough, 201 S.W.3d 607 (Tenn. 2006). “We granted these appeals to determine whether the extraction of blood from a *611 convicted and incarcerated felon for DNA analysis pursuant to Tennessee’s DNA collection statute, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (2003), is constitutional under both the Fourth Amendment to the United…”
State of Tennessee v. Kacy Dewayne Cannon, 254 S.W.3d 287 (Tenn. 2008). “Motion to Suppress DNA Evidence Defendant next submits that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and avers that the “warrantless, suspicionless taldng of Defendant’s blood, pursuant to Tenn.”
Powers v. State, 343 S.W.3d 36 (Tenn. 2011). “2006), this Court analyzed the purpose of these statutory provisions in the context of determining whether extracting blood from a felon for DNA analysis pursuant to section 40-35-321 violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.”
State of Tennessee v. Simon Dean Porter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (a), (e). The Defendant maintains that Code section 40-35-321(e) does not require arrestees to be swabbed while in pretrial confinement.”
State v. Medina, 2014 VT 69 (Vt. 2014). “2, 23-5A-1; Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 ; Tex. Gov’t Code Ann.”
State of Tennessee v. Bradley Scott (Tenn. Crim. App. 2012). “te responded that: (1) the defendant was arrested on a fugitive warrant arising from a Mississippi aggravated assault charge and that aggravated assault is one of the violent felonies which requires DNA sampling from arrestees; (2) the defendant had a prior Mississippi felony…”
State of Tennessee v. Daryl Powell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “The State further argues that if the DNA sample obtained from Powell prior to his conviction resulted in an unsatisfactory “DNA footprint,” then Powell must “cooperate with authorities for purposes of registering his DNA in the DNA database pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §…”
William C. Bros. v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2009). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (b). The Compiler’s Notes for Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-3213 provide that the statute applies to all persons that commit aggravated sexual battery or one of the other enumerated offenses “on or after July 1, 1991.”
State of Tennessee v. Mohamed Miray (Tenn. Ct. App. 2025). “See T.C.A. § 40-35-321. There was no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
State of Tennessee v. Mack T. Transou (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (d)(1) (2004).”
G'Andre Fields v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Agent Hardy agreed that an arrestee’s DNA sample is collected for certain violent offenses pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(E). The violent offenses include aggravated assault and aggravated rape.”
State of Tennessee v. Bruce Warren Scarborogh (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005). “On April 22, 1999, a nurse at Brushy Mountain State Prison collected a sample of the appellant’s blood pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(b), which provides that defendants convicted of certain sexual offenses must provide a biological specimen for DNA…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(E) — 1 case
G'Andre Fields v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Agent Hardy agreed that an arrestee’s DNA sample is collected for certain violent offenses pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(E). The violent offenses include aggravated assault and aggravated rape.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(a) — 3 cases
State v. Scarborough, 201 S.W.3d 607 (Tenn. 2006). “We granted these appeals to determine whether the extraction of blood from a *611 convicted and incarcerated felon for DNA analysis pursuant to Tennessee’s DNA collection statute, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (2003), is constitutional under both the Fourth Amendment to the United…”
Powers v. State, 343 S.W.3d 36 (Tenn. 2011). “2006), this Court analyzed the purpose of these statutory provisions in the context of determining whether extracting blood from a felon for DNA analysis pursuant to section 40-35-321 violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.”
State of Tennessee v. Bradley Scott (Tenn. Crim. App. 2012). “te responded that: (1) the defendant was arrested on a fugitive warrant arising from a Mississippi aggravated assault charge and that aggravated assault is one of the violent felonies which requires DNA sampling from arrestees; (2) the defendant had a prior Mississippi felony…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(b) — 7 cases
State v. Scarborough, 201 S.W.3d 607 (Tenn. 2006). “We granted these appeals to determine whether the extraction of blood from a *611 convicted and incarcerated felon for DNA analysis pursuant to Tennessee’s DNA collection statute, Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (2003), is constitutional under both the Fourth Amendment to the United…”
Powers v. State, 343 S.W.3d 36 (Tenn. 2011). “2006), this Court analyzed the purpose of these statutory provisions in the context of determining whether extracting blood from a felon for DNA analysis pursuant to section 40-35-321 violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.”
State of Tennessee v. Simon Dean Porter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (a), (e). The Defendant maintains that Code section 40-35-321(e) does not require arrestees to be swabbed while in pretrial confinement.”
State of Tennessee v. Bruce Warren Scarborogh (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005). “On April 22, 1999, a nurse at Brushy Mountain State Prison collected a sample of the appellant’s blood pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(b), which provides that defendants convicted of certain sexual offenses must provide a biological specimen for DNA…”
State of Tennessee v. Daryl Powell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “The State further argues that if the DNA sample obtained from Powell prior to his conviction resulted in an unsatisfactory “DNA footprint,” then Powell must “cooperate with authorities for purposes of registering his DNA in the DNA database pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(c) — 3 cases
State of Tennessee v. Kacy Dewayne Cannon, 254 S.W.3d 287 (Tenn. 2008). “Motion to Suppress DNA Evidence Defendant next submits that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and avers that the “warrantless, suspicionless taldng of Defendant’s blood, pursuant to Tenn.”
Powers v. State, 343 S.W.3d 36 (Tenn. 2011). “2006), this Court analyzed the purpose of these statutory provisions in the context of determining whether extracting blood from a felon for DNA analysis pursuant to section 40-35-321 violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.”
Alan Dale Bailey v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2002).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(d) — 1 case
State of Tennessee v. Bradley Scott (Tenn. Crim. App. 2012). “te responded that: (1) the defendant was arrested on a fugitive warrant arising from a Mississippi aggravated assault charge and that aggravated assault is one of the violent felonies which requires DNA sampling from arrestees; (2) the defendant had a prior Mississippi felony…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(d)(1) — 4 cases
State of Tennessee v. Kacy Dewayne Cannon, 254 S.W.3d 287 (Tenn. 2008). “Motion to Suppress DNA Evidence Defendant next submits that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and avers that the “warrantless, suspicionless taldng of Defendant’s blood, pursuant to Tenn.”
State of Tennessee v. Daryl Powell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “The State further argues that if the DNA sample obtained from Powell prior to his conviction resulted in an unsatisfactory “DNA footprint,” then Powell must “cooperate with authorities for purposes of registering his DNA in the DNA database pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §…”
State of Tennessee v. Mack T. Transou (Tenn. Crim. App. 2006).
State of Tennessee v. Mack T. Transou (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (d)(1) (2004).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(e) — 1 case
State of Tennessee v. Simon Dean Porter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (a), (e). The Defendant maintains that Code section 40-35-321(e) does not require arrestees to be swabbed while in pretrial confinement.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(e)(1) — 5 cases
State of Tennessee v. Simon Dean Porter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (a), (e). The Defendant maintains that Code section 40-35-321(e) does not require arrestees to be swabbed while in pretrial confinement.”
State of Tennessee v. Bradley Scott (Tenn. Crim. App. 2012). “te responded that: (1) the defendant was arrested on a fugitive warrant arising from a Mississippi aggravated assault charge and that aggravated assault is one of the violent felonies which requires DNA sampling from arrestees; (2) the defendant had a prior Mississippi felony…”
State of Tennessee v. Daryl Powell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “The State further argues that if the DNA sample obtained from Powell prior to his conviction resulted in an unsatisfactory “DNA footprint,” then Powell must “cooperate with authorities for purposes of registering his DNA in the DNA database pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §…”
G'Andre Fields v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Agent Hardy agreed that an arrestee’s DNA sample is collected for certain violent offenses pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(E). The violent offenses include aggravated assault and aggravated rape.”
State of Tennessee v. Mohamed Miray (Tenn. Ct. App. 2025). “See T.C.A. § 40-35-321. There was no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(e)(2) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Bradley Scott (Tenn. Crim. App. 2012). “te responded that: (1) the defendant was arrested on a fugitive warrant arising from a Mississippi aggravated assault charge and that aggravated assault is one of the violent felonies which requires DNA sampling from arrestees; (2) the defendant had a prior Mississippi felony…”
State of Tennessee v. Mohamed Miray (Tenn. Ct. App. 2025). “See T.C.A. § 40-35-321. There was no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(e)(3) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Simon Dean Porter (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321 (a), (e). The Defendant maintains that Code section 40-35-321(e) does not require arrestees to be swabbed while in pretrial confinement.”
State of Tennessee v. Mohamed Miray (Tenn. Ct. App. 2025). “See T.C.A. § 40-35-321. There was no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-321(e)(3)(C) — 2 cases
G'Andre Fields v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2025). “Agent Hardy agreed that an arrestee’s DNA sample is collected for certain violent offenses pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-321(E). The violent offenses include aggravated assault and aggravated rape.”
State of Tennessee v. Mohamed Miray (Tenn. Ct. App. 2025). “See T.C.A. § 40-35-321. There was no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
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