Orange County settlement limits DNA retention, requires disclosures

Orange County prosecutors must delete qualifying DNA profiles and disclose more information about their database under a lawsuit settlement, according to Voice of OC. Prosecutors separately suspended new DNA collection for at least a year amid county budget cuts.

The settlement sets retention limits for a database that held DNA from nearly 215,000 people as of January 2025, according to a county staff report cited by Voice of OC. The collection pause does not necessarily end the program: Prosecutors have not ruled out restarting it.

DNA profiles tied to certain misdemeanors will be deleted automatically after 15 years, Voice of OC reported. Eligible offenses include license plate alteration, public drinking and failure to follow directions at a stoplight.

People who do not qualify for automatic deletion may petition to have their profiles removed after 25 years, provided they have not reoffended. The settlement also requires the district attorney to disclose information about collection-related charges, case matches and annual expungements.

Former District Attorney Tony Rackauckus launched the program in 2007. Known informally as Spit and Acquit, it gave misdemeanor defendants an alternative to facing charges: Pay a small fee and provide DNA for the county database, according to Voice of OC.

Prosecutors said the database produced matches or investigative leads passed along to county police departments on more than 12,000 occasions. William Thompson, a UCI criminology professor emeritus who brought the lawsuit, alleged that the program created an opening for potentially unconstitutional arrests and sought limits on DNA retention.

The lawsuit lasted five years, Voice of OC reported. Thompson received no money under the settlement, though the county will pay his lawyers. Prosecutors announced the separate collection suspension to staff in June amid budget cuts.

Whether DNA collection resumes remains unresolved. The settlement establishes deletion and disclosure requirements but does not make the collection pause permanent, according to Voice of OC.