The state Corrections Department has begun collecting DNA samples from violent criminals and sex offenders on parole or probation, in accordance with a new state law.

The department is already authorized to collect and store genetic information on prisoners who have committed violent or sexual crimes, but the new law enables them to do the same for prisoners under state supervision outside the prison. The genetic information will be placed in a national database that's accessible to police departments across the country.

The police can use the database when they are investigating crimes that have DNA evidence.

By comparing crime scene DNA with the database, the police can either locate a suspect or rule out the large number in the database.

"The department is now collecting DNA from those under supervision," Assistant Corrections Commissioner Les Dolecal said in a written statement.

Most states permit prison officials to collect genetic samples from convicts for use in the database, but they differ in what crimes make a prisoner eligible. The expansion of the law to include supervised offenders is in keeping with a national trend to widen the net of offenders who can be placed in the database, said Buzz Scherr, a professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center who studies the relationship between genetic science and privacy rights. Federal parolees are subject to a similar requirement.

The federal law and some state versions have been challenged in court, but they have mostly been upheld as constitutional, Scherr said. Courts have historically found that prisoners have a limited right to privacy and that the public interest in tracking their personal information outweighs that diminished interest.

Some states have gone further. Seven states have enacted and more than 20 have considered collecting DNA from suspects when they are arrested. Those laws may face tougher legal challenges because the courts treat arrestees differently from convicted offenders.

According to the Corrections Department, officials will take the samples by swabbing the inside of offenders' cheeks when they visit district offices. Samples will be sent to the state police crime lab for analysis.

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By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

Monitor staff