While a new crime lab was a big focus of Gov. Jay Nixon’s signing ceremony south of Carthage on Thursday, the other laws he signed could have as much of an impact on crime fighting and every day life.

Nixon signed five bills into law in a ceremonial signing at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Satellite office south of Carthage.

These new laws, when they take affect in August, will affect DNA databases, change the way child witnesses are handled in court, prohibit young people texting while driving, increase the penalties for crimes such as the rape or sodomizing of a child and make a host of other changes.

“I’ll be here signing five different bills that on the surface you might think have little in common, but quite frankly, they have a lot in common,” Nixon said. “One deals with DNA, another with children who are witnesses in criminal cases, another increases the sentences for some vicious sex offenders, another helps streamline the investigatory process for the highway patrol, and the fifth deals with many different crime issues, different, yes, but not unrelated at all.”

Among the most important and most debated changes that were made is in House Bill 152, a bill sponsored by State Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, which requires a DNA sample to be collected from anyone arrested for a felony in Missouri. 

In the past, officials couldn’t collect DNA samples, which can be extracted from saliva, until someone was convicted of a crime.

Karen Foster, an Alaska native and mother of Bonnie Craig, an 18 year-old college student who was brutally raped and murdered on September 28, 1994 in Anchorage, Alaska, said taking a DNA sample on arrest can determine quickly whether a person is considered a suspect in any other crimes.

“Oh my gosh, it is so critical,” Foster said. “Most people don’t understand the difference between getting it on arrest and getting it on conviction. Convictions can sometimes take two, three, four years, so why should you have to wait, thinking that guy might have raped me too. For that person, that victim to have to wait until after conviction, no that is wrong, let us know right from the start whether that person is involved in other crimes.”

Ruestman said the law requires that the DNA sample and any information related to the sample be destroyed if no charges are filed against the arrested person within 90 days of arrest.

“We can keep our samples if there is a link to another crime,” Ruestman said. “Even if the person isn’t charged, but we have a link up, then in our legislation we can still keep the sample.”

“If the person is not charged, or if they are found innocent, within 30 days of the highway patrol being notified, the sample must be expunged from the file. That’s pretty strong language.”

Another bill signed on Thursday was House Bill 62, which is called an omnibus crime bill because it contains a number of different provisions in one law.

Among the items in this bill is a provision prohibiting people under the age of 21 from creating text messaged and sending them with their cellular phone while driving.

“I think this is a solid first step, saying that if you’re 21 or under, that you can’t drive and text message,” Nixon said. “We all know that it’s a challenge for kids to maintain focus behind the wheel and when you have kids literally communicating with their friends with one or two of their thumbs at the same time, that makes that challenge even more dangerous. I think that starting with the younger folks, it will give us the ability to look at data and if that data comes in over the next few years and shows that the accident rate goes down and there’s additional safety involved, I think it would be a logical next step to say that no Missourian should be behind the wheel texting on their Blackberry or their iPhone or whatever device they are using while they are trying to keep control in traffic.”

This bill also includes stronger language protecting senior citizens from hucksters and others looking to scam them.

It also includes a provision called Hope’s Law, expanding the crime of endangering the welfare of a child to include possession of methamphetamine in a home where someone under the age of 17 lives.

Among the other laws signed on Thursday:

• House Bill 65 — “This is a simple measure that will help streamline the work of the Highway Patrol, saving time and resources and also freeing up sheriff’s deputies to do more of their important work patrolling our communities,” Nixon said. “House Bill 65 eliminates the requirement that a county sheriff or deputy accompany a highway patrol trooper when they serve search warrants that are part of a driving-while-intoxicated investigation.”

• House Bill 863 — “This is known as the child witness protection act,” Nixon said. “One of the most heart-wrenching and difficult things you will ever see in a courtroom is when a young child must testify in a criminal case. These are children who have been witnesses or the victims of unspeakable crimes and often without the child’s testimony, a violent offender will go free.

“House Bill 863 is a practical and compassionate attempt to ease the burden on our youngest and most vulnerable witnesses. It allows a judge to limit the amount of time a child must endure on the witness stand. It opens up the opportunity for a young child to have a toy or a comfort blanket while testifying. A loved one or a support person can also be nearby for emotional support as they testify. It also requires that judges prevent harassment or intimidation of a child by an attorney or a defendant.”

• Senate Bill 36 — “This is another effort to protect our youngest Missourians,” Nixon said. “A central tenant of our criminal justice system must be that the punishment fits the crime. There are some crimes that are so wanton and vile that as we as a society say that a criminal should be locked in prison and never have the opportunity to live as a part of civil society again. But as the law stands now in Missouri, a criminal who forcibly rapes or sodomizes a child under the age of 12 is eligible for probation or parole after serving 30 years in prison. That means a criminal locked up at 20 could possibly be free at 50.”