Evidence Preservation in Indiana
State statute requires law enforcement agencies to automatically preserve any evidence related to violence offenses that could be subjected to DNA testing and analysis for either 20 years from the date of a defendant’s conviction or the period of the defendant’s incarceration, whichever is later. In cases where an investigation did not result in a conviction, the evidence is required to be preserved until the statute of limitations for the offense expires. Effective: 2022.
Indiana’s statute meets the best practices standards outlined by the NIST Technical Working Group on Biological Evidence Preservation.