HB 2491 - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 1ST SUB)

     Provides that any person sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole may request the department to issue an order for DNA testing of any appropriate evidence available for testing which may be a reasonable basis for proving the person's innocence, if DNA test results were not available at the time of conviction or were not allowed in the court in which the conviction occurred.

     Requires the department to adopt by rule policies for evaluating requests for DNA testing, determining whether evidence is appropriate evidence including whether the evidence may provide a reasonable basis for challenging the conviction, sharing of the results of the testing with the legal counsel for the convicted person, and when the department will assume the costs of DNA testing.