A. For purposes of this act:

1. “ABFT” shall mean the American Board of Forensic Toxicology, an accrediting body for toxicology;

2. “Accredited” shall mean recognized formally by an accrediting body as meeting or exceeding applicable quality standards;

3. “Accrediting body” shall mean a nationally recognized organization that has developed and maintained an independent system, based upon ISO/IEC 17025 standards, for providing laboratories with an impartial review of laboratory operations and that provides formal recognition or certification to laboratories who demonstrate continued compliance with those standards and other supplemental forensic standards which are specific to the maintenance and testing of forensic evidence;

4. “ISO/IEC 17025” shall mean the International Organization of Standards/International Electrotechnical Commission standard 17025 that is published by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission and included as a standard in general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories;

5. “Forensic laboratory” shall mean a laboratory operated by the state or any unit of municipal, county, city or other local government that examines physical evidence in criminal matters and provides opinion testimony in a court of law;

6. “Toxicology analysis” shall mean a laboratory analysis whereby biological samples are tested for alcohol and/or other toxic or intoxicating substances;

7. “IAI” shall mean the International Association for Identification; and

8. “Supplemental forensic standards” shall mean additional requirements specifically related to maintenance and analysis of forensic evidence required in addition to the calibration and testing requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 standards.

B. Effective July 1, 2005, all forensic laboratories as defined in this act established or operating prior to that date shall be accredited. The following exceptions shall apply:

1. Breath testing for alcohol;

2. Field testing, crime scene processing, crime scene evidence collection, searches, examinations or enhancements of digital evidence, and crime scene reconstruction;

3. Latent print identification performed by an IAI certified latent print examiner;

4. Marihuana identification using methods generally accepted in the forensic field that are approved by a forensic laboratory accredited in controlled substances;

5. All forensic laboratories established on or after July 1, 2005, as defined in this act, shall be accredited within two (2) years of establishment; and

6. Forensic laboratories that exclusively and solely perform forensic toxicology analysis may meet this requirement by being either accredited through an accrediting body as defined in this section or accredited by ABFT.

C. On or after July 1, 2005, testimony, results, reports, or evidence of forensics analysis produced on behalf of the prosecution in a criminal trial shall be done by an accredited forensic laboratory. This section shall not apply to:

1. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of forensic analysis produced by a forensic laboratory established after July 1, 2005, and not yet required to be accredited as set forth in subsection B of this section;

2. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of forensic analysis produced by a forensic laboratory prior to July 1, 2005. Such testimony, results, reports, or evidence need not be performed by an accredited forensic laboratory and may be produced or presented on behalf of the prosecution in a criminal trial after July 1, 2005, as long as the forensic analysis was produced prior to that date;

3. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of breath testing for alcohol;

4. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of field testing, crime scene processing, crime scene evidence collection, searches, examinations or enhancements of digital evidence, and crime scene reconstruction;

5. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of latent print identification performed by an IAI certified latent print examiner; and

6. Testimony, results, reports, or evidence of marihuana identification using methods generally accepted in the forensic field that are approved by a forensic laboratory accredited in controlled substances.

Added by Laws 2002, c. 351, § 3, emerg. eff. May 30, 2002. Amended by Laws 2003, c. 203, § 1, emerg. eff. May 9, 2003; Laws 2011, c. 137, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.