{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1371.1","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 22-1371.1","heading":"DNA Forensic Testing Program purpose - Authority of the","body":"Oklahoma Indigent Defense System - Claim priority.\n\nA. A DNA Forensic Testing Program shall be created within the\n\nOklahoma Indigent Defense System to investigate, screen, and present\n\nto the appropriate prosecutorial agency claims that scientific\n\nevidence will demonstrate indigent persons convicted of, and\n\npresently incarcerated on, any felony offense upon which the testing\n\nis sought are factually innocent. Factual innocence requires the\n\ndefendant to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no\n\nreasonable jury would have found the defendant guilty beyond a\n\nreasonable doubt in light of the new evidence. The System’s\n\nservices shall be available only upon the submission of an affidavit\n\nof indigency to the System signed by an incarcerated person\n\nconvicted of a felony and upon a preliminary determination by the\n\nSystem that the claim has a reasonable basis in fact.\n\nDeterminations of indigency shall be made at the sole discretion of\n\nthe System based on rules for determining indigency promulgated by\n\nthe Court of Criminal Appeals pursuant to the Indigent Defense Act.\n\nDeterminations of reasonableness and acceptance of cases for which\n\nDNA testing will be performed shall be within the sole discretion of\n\nthe System and shall not be subject to judicial review.\n\nB. The System shall employ such attorneys, investigators, and\n\nother employees as may be necessary to process and present claims of\n\nfactual innocence to the appropriate prosecuting agency in an\n\nefficient manner.\n\nC. The System shall give priority to claims based on certain\n\nfactors, including but not limited to:\n\n1. The opportunity for conclusive or near conclusive proof that\n\nthe person is factually innocent by reason of scientific evidence;\n\nand\n\n2. A lengthy sentence of imprisonment or a death sentence.\n\nD. The System is authorized to investigate cases and arrange\n\nfor the forensic testing of evidence to determine whether evidence\n\nof factual innocence exists. Samples must be of sufficient quantity\n\nto allow testing by both the prosecution and the defense. Neither\n\nthe prosecution nor defense shall consume the entire sample in\n\ntesting in the absence of a court order allowing the sample to be\n\nentirely consumed in testing. The System shall request the Oklahoma\n\nState Bureau of Investigation or the city in which the offense upon\n\nwhich the testing is sought was committed to perform the testing.\n\nThe Bureau or the city may decline for any reason at their\n\ndiscretion in writing within thirty (30) days of receipt of the\n\nrequest. In those cases where the Bureau or city declines or fails\n\nto respond within thirty (30) days, or cannot perform the testing\n\nwithin a reasonable time, the System may request the professional\n\nservices of experts under contract with the System as necessary for\n\ntesting and presentation of such claims to the appropriate\n\nprosecuting agency.\n\nE. All municipal, county and state forensic laboratories shall\n\nprovide copies to the System of laboratory examination reports\n\nregarding cases accepted for investigation by the DNA Forensic\n\nTesting Program administered by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense\n\nSystem. The reports shall be confidential and not subject to the\n\nOklahoma Open Records Act. The reports shall be used only for\n\ninvestigating, screening, and presenting claims pursuant to the\n\nprovisions of the DNA Forensic Testing Act.\n\nF. Nothing in the DNA Forensic Testing Act shall require any\n\nperson other than an incarcerate to provide a sample from their body\n\nfor purposes of testing.","path":["OK Code","Title 22"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os22.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"e4b6a7400b59eb0e235e043109e6870196278906b02525da3ca1711363dea0ab","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1371","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1371.2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}