Laboratory Accreditation
The Forensic Science Department is committed to delivering high quality services to the Austin community. This includes reporting scientifically valid and reliable results for all criminal justice stakeholders. The Department recognizes the importance of accreditation in providing confidence in our results.
Accreditation allows the laboratory to demonstrate its competence in operating a management system that follows internationally recognized standards. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publishes standards for many industries, including testing laboratories. Accrediting bodies for forensic laboratories set additional requirements for unique areas pertaining to forensic testing.
In 2005, the laboratory achieved accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. It has maintained this status in the Crime Scene, Firearms/Toolmarks, Latent Prints, Seized Drugs (formerly Controlled Substances), and Toxicology (blood alcohol only) disciplines. The laboratory is currently accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB).
The laboratory’s certificate (FT-0325) and scope of accreditation are maintained on ANAB’s website. Additional information about ANAB can be found here.
The Forensic Science Department laboratory is also accredited by the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC) in accordance with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.35. The laboratory’s accreditation letter is available here. A list of laboratories accredited by the Texas Forensic Science Commission is maintained on their website here.
In addition to ensuring compliance with standards, the quality management system works to continuously improve its operations and the quality of our services.
OSAC Registry Standards Implementation
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) in 2014 to improve the quality and consistency of work in the forensic science community.
OSAC develops and promotes documents on the OSAC Registry that establish minimum requirements, best practices, and standard protocols to ensure results of forensic analysis are technically valid, reliable, and reproducible. Additional information about OSAC can be found here.
The Austin Forensic Science Department recognizes the importance of voluntarily adopting documents published on the OSAC Registry. The laboratory has been recognized as an OSAC Implementer and continues to evaluate and implement applicable documents on an ongoing basis. The laboratory’s OSAC Implementation Certificate is available here.