TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Collecting criminal DNA is up for debate in the nation, and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is giving his support.

Schmidt says he agrees with other attorneys general in favor of a state's authority to collect DNA samples from suspects arrested for violent crimes.

Kansas is one of 28 states that collects DNA from suspects to be used in a forensic identification database.

Arguments about the constitutionality of collecting the samples will be heard next month in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Schmidt and other attorneys general say the DNA databases help solve crime and make investigating easier and faster.