Accreditation
Since 2013, the DPS Breath Alcohol Laboratory has been accredited to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 for forensic calibration and reference material production through the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), now ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The Breath Alcohol Laboratory is the largest laboratory in the nation to provide such calibration services on a statewide level. In 2019, the CRM Laboratory transitioned to ISO 17034 accreditation for reference material producers and is one of the only accredited alcohol reference material production laboratories in the country.
Every aspect of the laboratory's operation is carefully reviewed, including its management practices, surveys of customer satisfaction (customer liaison), handling procedures, laboratory security procedures, training programs, proficiency testing, competency testing records, and testimony monitoring records. Accreditation has a positive impact on the public by promoting a higher standard of quality within laboratories.
The current DPS Crime Laboratory accreditation certificates are available from the ANAB website.
- BAL Laboratory – Forensic Calibration Certificate (ISO/IEC 17025:2017)
- CRM Laboratory – Reference Material Producer Certificate (ISO 17034:2016)
Certification of Forensic Scientists
While accreditation of crime laboratories is required in Texas, certification of individual Forensic Scientists is not currently required. However, voluntary certification may be available to the forensic scientist and is recognized as an additional measure of quality assurance and credentialing.
Licensure
During the 84th Legislative Session in 2015, the Texas Legislature passed SB-1287, which requires qualifying forensic analysts and technicians to be licensed beginning January 1, 2019. The term "forensic analyst" means any person who on behalf of a crime laboratory accredited under this article technically reviews or performs a forensic analysis or draws conclusions from or interprets a forensic analysis for a court or crime laboratory.
Currently, forensic analysts performing breath alcohol or certified reference material work are exempt from the statutory licensure requirements. The Texas Forensic Science Commission does not currently provide a path for voluntary licensure of forensic analysts performing breath alcohol or certified reference material work.
Please refer to the Texas Forensic Science Commission website for further updates.
NIST OSAC Standards
The NIST Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) was created in 2014 to address the need for discipline-specific forensic science standards. OSAC is composed of 550-plus members from the forensic community and other relevant areas such as scientific research, measurement science, statistics, law and policy. OSAC’s mission is to draft forensic science standards that define minimum requirements, best practices, standard protocols and other guidance to ensure that the results of forensic analysis can be relied upon by the criminal justice community. More information about OSAC can be found at The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science.
Crime Laboratories may voluntarily adopt OSAC standards into their standard operating procedures and policies. Adoption of these standards is not a requirement of accreditation, but it can provide an additional measure of confidence in the work that laboratories perform.
The Breath Alcohol Laboratory has voluntarily adopted applicable standards on the OSAC Registry and is now considered an OSAC Implementers.
Quality Incidents
Quality Incident records address instances of nonconforming work when laboratory activities do not conform to established policies and procedures or the customer’s agreed requirements.
Quality Incident records related to breath alcohol or certified reference material work can be found on the Texas Forensic Science Commission Portal.
The following list may be used to facilitate retrieval of information from the Breath Alcohol Laboratory and/or to assist with locating or cross-referencing with the information provided in the TFSC Portal: