SALEM (AP) -- Requiring a DNA test to establish paternity in child support cases doesn't violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.

The decision was the first one on the issue by an Oregon appellate court, said Kevin Neely, spokesman for Attorney General Hardy Myers.

The state's interest in ensuring that children receive the financial support they are due "outweighs the minimal intrusion on personal liberty" from the tests, a three-judge panel said unanimously.

Neely said the ruling is significant because the Child Support Division in the attorney general's office handles more than 1,000 paternity cases a year in enforcing state child support laws.

In the appeals court decision in a Benton County case, Michael Spring refused to consent to a DNA test that involves taking a sample by a swab inside the cheek.

Spring contended the law allowing the state to require DNA testing in paternity challenges violates his guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure under the state and federal constitutions.

Spring refused to take the test and appealed after Circuit Judge Henry Dickerson rejected his arguments and ordered him to pay child support. The child's mother had filed an affidavit naming Spring as the father and that said he had acknowledged being the father.

The appeals court said the DNA testing is a "reasonable administrative search."

The court said the testing doesn't involve enforcing criminal laws, which carry stiffer rules for searches, and because the support enforcement process doesn't allow for discretion because everyone seeking a court hearing to contest paternity has to provide a DNA sample.