Attorney General David M. Louie said today that a John P. Dunbar Jr. of Haiku, Maui, was arrested Aug. 22 by patrol officers and the Maui Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit for refusing to provide a DNA sample.

Dunbar, according to a press release, had been convicted in 2005 of attempted escape in the second degree, a felony, and was given notice of the legal requirement that he provide a sample.

Hawaii Revised Statutes 844D-31 states that any person convicted of a felony is required to provide a “buccal swab” sample (from inside the cheek) containing DNA.

The law applies to all convicted felons, says the AG’s office, even if their conviction occurred before the passage of the law in 2005.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Dunbar was convicted of escape, as opposed to attempted escape. The Hawaii attorney general’s office sent this statement to clarify: “In 2005, Mr. Dunbar was convicted of Attempted Escape in the Second Degree, a class C felony. The News Release (2014-27) issued August 29, 2014 by the Department of the Attorney General incorrectly stated that Mr. Dunbar was convicted of Escape in the Second Degree. On appeal, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of the State of Hawaii affirmed Mr. Dunbar’s conviction. Having been convicted of a felony, Mr. Dunbar was required to provide a buccal swab sample containing DNA pursuant to section 844D-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes.”

Hawaii Attorney General David Louie.

Nathan Eagle/Honolulu Civil Beat

Refusal to submit a DNA sample is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment or a maximum fine of $2,000.

(An arrest does not constitute a conviction, says the AG, and Dunbar is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)

“I thank the various law enforcement agencies that have assisted our office in ensuring that state law is followed and that convicted felons who refuse to provide DNA samples are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Louie. “The DNA collection program has already assisted law enforcement in closing unsolved crimes.”

Louie added, “I encourage anyone that has been convicted of a felony that has not yet provided a DNA sample to voluntarily comply with the law and provide a sample to our DNA Swabbing Unit.”

The DNA Swabbing Unit can be contacted at (808) 586-1240.