(a) The “Missing Persons DNA Database” shall be funded by a two dollar ($2) fee increase on death certificates issued by a local governmental agency or by the State of California. The issuing agencies may retain up to 5 percent of the funds from the fee increase for administrative costs.

(b) Funds shall be directed on a quarterly basis to the “Missing Persons DNA Data Base Fund,” hereby established, to be administered by the department for establishing and maintaining laboratory infrastructure, DNA sample storage, DNA analysis, and labor costs for cases of missing persons and unidentified remains. Funds may also be distributed by the department to various counties for the purposes of pathology and exhumation consistent with this title. The department may also use those funds to publicize the database for the purpose of contacting parents and relatives so that they may provide a DNA sample for training law enforcement officials about the database and DNA sampling and for outreach.

(c) The identification of any backlog of human remain samples or samples donated by a family member or from a personal article belonging to the missing person may be outsourced to other laboratories at the department’s discretion.

(d) (1) The Department of Justice shall retain the authority to prioritize case analysis, giving priority to those cases involving children and those involving homicide victims.

(2) If federal funding is made available, it shall be used to assist in the identification of the backlog of high-risk missing person cases and long-term unidentified remains.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 228, Sec. 2. (AB 275) Effective October 11, 2009.)