43-1414. Genetic testing; procedure; confidentiality; violation; penalty.

787 words·~4 min read·/ne/chapter-43/43-1414

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(1)(a) In any proceeding to establish paternity, the court may, on its own motion, or shall, on a timely request of a party, after notice and hearing, require the child, the mother, and the alleged father to submit to genetic testing to be performed on blood or any other appropriate genetic testing material. Failure to comply with such requirement for genetic testing shall constitute contempt and may be dealt with in the same manner as other contempts. If genetic testing is required, the court shall direct that inherited characteristics be determined by appropriate testing procedures and shall appoint an expert in genetic testing and qualified as an examiner of genetic markers to analyze and interpret the results and to report to the court. The court shall determine the number of experts required.

(b)For purposes of this subsection, child means a person under the age of eighteen years, regardless of whether the person was born out of wedlock.

(2)In any proceeding to establish paternity, the Department of Health and Human Services, county attorneys, and authorized attorneys have the authority to require the child, the mother, and the alleged father to submit to genetic testing to be performed on blood or any other appropriate genetic testing material. All genetic testing shall be performed by a laboratory accredited by the College of American Pathologists or any other national accrediting body or public agency which has requirements that are substantially equivalent to or more comprehensive than those of the college.

(3)Except as authorized under sections 43-1414 to 43-1418 , a person shall not disclose information obtained from genetic paternity testing that is done pursuant to such sections.

(4)If an alleged father who is tested as part of an action under such sections is found to be the child's father, the testing laboratory shall retain the genetic testing material of the alleged father, mother, and child for no longer than the period of years prescribed by the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. If a man is found not to be the child's father, the testing laboratory shall destroy the man's genetic testing material in the presence of a witness after such material is used in the paternity action. The witness may be an individual who is a party to the destruction of the genetic testing material. After the man's genetic testing material is destroyed, the testing laboratory shall make and keep a written record of the destruction and have the individual who witnessed the destruction sign the record. The testing laboratory shall also expunge its records regarding the genetic paternity testing performed on the genetic testing material in accordance with the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. The testing laboratory shall retain the genetic testing material of the mother and child for no longer than the period of years prescribed by the national standards under which the laboratory is accredited. After a testing laboratory destroys an individual's genetic testing material as provided in this subsection, it shall notify the adult individual, or the parent or legal guardian of a minor individual, by certified mail that the genetic testing material was destroyed.

(5)A testing laboratory is required to protect the confidentiality of genetic testing material, except as required for a paternity determination. The court and its officers shall not use or disclose genetic testing material for a purpose other than the paternity determination.

(6)A person shall not buy, sell, transfer, or offer genetic testing material obtained under sections 43-1414 to 43-1418 .

(7)A testing laboratory shall annually have an independent audit verifying the contracting laboratory's compliance with this section. The audit shall not disclose the names of, or otherwise identify, the test subjects required to submit to testing during the previous year. The testing laboratory shall forward the audit to the department.

(8)Any person convicted of violating this section shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class III misdemeanor for the second or subsequent offense.

(9)For purposes of sections 43-1414 to 43-1418 , an expert in genetic testing means a person who has formal doctoral training or postdoctoral training in human genetics.

(10)The changes made to this section by Laws 2025, LB150, apply to actions under sections 43-1401 to 43-1418 that are pending on June 5, 2025, and to cases filed on or after such date.

The Legislature's approval of genetic analysis is clearly aimed at diagnostic, rather than forensic, uses of DNA profiling. State v. Houser, 241 Neb. 525, 490 N.W.2d 168 (1992).

The purpose of this section is to make evidence from genetic testing available for use at trial. State v. Smith, 231 Neb. 740, 437 N.W.2d 803 (1989).