SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Celina Villanueva championed a new law to provide additional protections to crime victims.

“This law protects survivors’ rights as they make the delicate decision to seek justice by trusting the system with their DNA,” said Villanueva (D-Chicago). “By providing this protection, survivors are able to avoid possible systemic retaliation of misuse of DNA evidence by the criminal justice system.”

The new law, formerly House Bill 1168, prevents DNA evidence collected from a crime victim from being entered into any DNA database.

Villanueva passed this legislation in response to a case in San Francisco where a rape survivor voluntarily provided her DNA to law enforcement to bring her attacker to justice. However, her DNA was put into a database without her consent – and was tested against crime scene DNA for years.

Villanueva’s law protects crime survivors against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment.

“This is just another instance of how survivors may be targeted by having their DNA put into a system that insists on treating them like criminals,” said Villanueva.  “It’s important that we work to change these practices so as not to discourage people from reporting their attackers.”

House Bill 1168 was signed into law Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.