Fla. Admin. Code R. 11D-12.006 (2026)

Expedited DNA Testing Grant Program:

(1) Any statewide or local Florida Law Enforcement Agency, including such agencies that house a laboratory that is part of the statewide criminal laboratory analysis system (section 943.32, F.S.) may apply for funding, when available, for the use of a private accredited laboratory for forensic DNA testing.

(2) Funding may be utilized under two circumstances.

(a) The technology or technique needed to perform STR DNA testing is not readily available from the statewide criminal laboratory analysis system.

Attestation by the DNA Technical Leader or supervisory member of the public crime laboratory which normally provides DNA services to the applicant, that the technology or technique is not readily available, must be documented on the application form.

(b) When the public crime laboratory that normally serves the law enforcement customer advises that its anticipated turnaround time for the case exceeds that which the investigating agency determines is necessary to advance the investigation.

1. The public crime laboratory which normally provides DNA services to the applicant must indicate its capacity to accommodate a rushed testing request and provide a good faith estimate as to the time needed to conduct the requested DNA testing, to be documented on the application form.

2. A need for expedited DNA testing services to advance the investigation is demonstrated by the applicant on the application form and does not include expedited DNA testing where the putative perpetrator has already been identified, is currently incarcerated, or for pending hearing and trial proceedings.

(3) Technical and Case Criteria

(a) Cases where CODIS-eligible DNA profile(s) may be developed, require approval from the public crime laboratory DNA Technical Leader before DNA testing is initiated, as per the current National DNA Index System (NDIS) Operational Procedures Manual, the Quality Assurance Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories (QAS) as issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the public crime laboratory’s Memorandum of Understanding with the FBI for the use of CODIS.

(b) Participating entities must not purposefully split cases between the public and private laboratory, meaning some evidence submitted to each for the same case, barring circumstances where the public crime laboratory has not validated the most appropriate procedure to perform the necessary testing for one or more items of evidence.

Some DNA records for known casework reference sample donors cannot be provided to the private vendor laboratory by the public crime laboratory; therefore, it may be necessary for some known reference standard samples to be sent to the private vendor laboratory along with the evidence as well as to the public laboratory for comparison and CODIS entry purposes.

(c) Cases where all necessary known reference samples from individuals associated with the case (alleged victim, alleged suspect, subjects, elimination donors) are available for direct comparisons with forensic crime scene samples and where the evidentiary profiles are either not eligible for CODIS entry or would not benefit the criminal justice community by being entered into CODIS (expected resulting profiles are already in CODIS) do not require public laboratory DNA TL prior approval.

Law enforcement agencies and vendor laboratories may not petition the public crime laboratory DNA TL for technical ownership review after testing has been initiated or completed.

(d) Acceptance of STR DNA profiles for technical ownership review and possible entry into CODIS will not be considered for any case where DNA TL approval was not obtained prior to initiation of DNA extraction by the vendor, per case submission to the vendor.

(e) Funds are to be used for STR DNA testing using generally accepted methods, where expediency beyond that available from the public laboratory is warranted.

(f) Funds may not be used for cases where use of the private vendor laboratory would not comply with section 932.326, F.S. regarding the required testing of sexual assault evidence kits.

(4) Vendor Criteria and Responsibility

(a) Accreditation by a recognized accrediting body to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, additional requirements for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories as determined by the accrediting body, and the current version of the FBI DNA QAS.

Must satisfy accreditation requirements of the Federal DNA Identification Act (34 U.S.C. §12592).

(b) It is the responsibility of the grant applicant to ensure the chosen vendor qualifies to receive the passthrough grant funding and to obtain any necessary approvals.

(c) Any vendor receiving passthrough funding, must supply the public laboratory with all documentation necessary to satisfy QAS 17 (Outsourcing Ownership). The FBI On-site Vendor Program where documentation is collected but not reviewed or audited does not substitute for this requirement.

(d) All vendors must adhere to sections 760.40 and 119.071, F.S., and any other applicable Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative Code Rule in order to be eligible to receive passthrough funding.

(5) Public Crime Laboratory Responsibility

(a) Regarding the technical ownership review of data generated by a private vendor laboratory, the public crime laboratory must follow its own Polices and Procedures, however named, and adhere to all documents indicated in (3)(a).

(b) The law enforcement applicant must liaise with the public crime laboratory that would normally provide DNA testing services for that agency as part of the Statewide Crime Laboratory System (FDLE Regional Crime Laboratories, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory, Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory, Indian River Regional Crime Laboratory, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory, Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory) to complete its application form.

(c) If a vendor laboratory for which the public laboratory DNA TL has not satisfied FBI DNA QAS 17 for a given calendar year is selected by the grant applicant, the public crime laboratory may request 45 calendar days to review and approve the necessary documentation prior to the initiation of testing.

The public crime laboratory DNA TL may refuse to review the technical specifications as per FBI DNA QAS 17.2, if the public crime laboratory deems in-house testing would be more expeditious. Consideration is given for time required to satisfy the QAS 17.3, to ensure the laboratory has and follows a documented procedure to verify the integrity of the DNA data received for the purposes of taking ownership of DNA data from a vendor laboratory.

(d) As part of the application process, the public crime laboratory that would normally serve the law enforcement agency must provide a good faith estimate of the time it would take to process the case in-house.

(e) A public crime laboratory may apply for and utilize funding to outsource testing in accordance with its own Policies and Procedures as a means of reducing overall turnaround time to customers, including cases it selects to outsource in order to accommodate expedited testing requests in-house and/or a case for which an application for Expedited DNA Testing Grant Funding was made.

The public crime laboratory’s parent law enforcement agency will serve as grantee and provide the same documentation as any grantee.

(6) Application Review and Prioritization

(a) Applicants must use the prescribed form provided by the Department and submit all requested accompanying documentation in support of eligibility for consideration.

Application review by the Department is contingent on staffing and subject matter expert availability.

(b) Applications will be reviewed when funding is available. In the event insufficient funding is available, cases demonstrating exigent public safety threat may be prioritized.

(7) Awardees must follow procurement rules and provide performance reporting metrics, monthly during the period in which the grantee and the Department have an executed contract for passthrough funding, and including an end-of-case form.

(8) Status of funding and application materials will be maintained on the Department website.

Rulemaking Authority 943.03(4), 943.328(6) FS. Law Implemented 943.328 FS. History–New 7-9-26.

Effective: 7/9/2026.