Texas Administrative Code › Title 37 - PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS › Part 15 - TEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION › Chapter 651 - DNA, CODIS, FORENSIC ANALYSIS, AND CRIME LABORATORIES › Subchapter C - FORENSIC ANALYST LICENSING PROGRAM › Section 651.220 - Laboratory License for De Minimis Texas Casework

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) A laboratory may apply to the Commission
				  for a
De Minimis
Texas Casework License on behalf of its
				  laboratory personnel. The Licensing Advisory Committee and/or the Commission
				  Director or Designee shall review each application and make a determination
				  regarding whether to grant a license under this section based on the criteria
				  set forth in subsection (c) of this section. Any laboratory that is denied a
				  request for a license under this section may appeal the decision to the full
				  Commission.
(b) Laboratory
De Minimis
Texas Casework License Term. A laboratory
De Minimis
Texas Casework License and corresponding licenses
				  granted under this section shall expire two (2) years from the date of
				  issuance.
(c) Texas Casework
				  Threshold. The Commission may grant a
De Minimis
Texas
				  Casework License to a laboratory that demonstrates in an application published
				  by the Commission that the laboratory's Texas casework constitutes less than
				  10% of its overall volume of casework during the five calendar years preceding
				  the application (calculated as a rolling average for each individual laboratory
				  site or location) to be re-evaluated at each expiration of the two-year license
				  term. In the absence of historical data, the best available data shall be used
				  to determine whether a laboratory has exceeded or is expected to exceed the 10%
				  threshold.
(d)
De
				  Minimis
License for Individual Non-Interpreting Analysts and
				  Technicians. With the exception of any "interpreting analysts" as defined in
				  subsection (g)(1) of this section, all analysts and technicians employed by a
				  laboratory determined by the Commission to meet the criteria for a De Minimis
				  Texas Casework License shall be licensed upon fulfillment of the following
				  requirements of the employing laboratory:
(1)
				  submit to Commission staff a list of the names of each individual analyst or
				  technician who is licensed under the
De Minimis
provision
				  indicating the forensic discipline(s) for which each analyst or technician is
				  qualified to perform independent casework; and
(2) certify on a form provided by the
				  Commission that each individual named:
(A)
				  works under the supervision of a fully licensed forensic analyst when
				  performing work for Texas criminal cases;
(B) has read and understands the Code of
				  Professional Responsibility in this subchapter;
(C) has completed all training materials
				  related to
Brady v. Maryland
discovery obligations and the
				  Michael Morton Act (Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 39.14) as provided by
				  the Commission; and
(D) has
				  participated in the Mandatory Legal and Professional Responsibility Training
				  described in §651.208(e)(1) - (2) of this subchapter (relating to Forensic
				  Analyst and Forensic Technician License Renewal).