Submissions

General Notice to Customers

This document serves as a general notification to our customers regarding the submission and analysis of evidence.

We exist to service our customers. It is our intention to ensure your understanding of all of or services, including our testing methods. Please do not hesitate to contact one of our facilities when questions arise.

By Submitting Evidence to the CBI your Agency Agrees to the Following:

Review of Requests for Analysis

Requests for analysis will be made at the time evidence is submitted or subsequent requests—amendments— may be made after evidence is already in the custody of CBI. All requests will be verified based on the following three points:

1. The individual requesting analysis is authorized by statute to do so;
2. The evidence being submitted meets the general and discipline-specific submission guidelines of the CBI- FS.
3. The service being requested is a category of testing performed by the CBI-FS and the analytical method is utilized by this agency.

Establishment of a Contract/Changes to the Contract

The CBI-FS establishes a binding agreement with their customers in the following ways:

1. For submitted evidence, the contract is established once the Request for Laboratory Examination (RFLE) has been accepted.
2. An alternate method may be proposed or additional testing may be performed if the CBI-FS deems this substitute/additional testing to be beneficial to the customer. The customer will be notified on a case by case basis;
3. If the proposed analysis will require consumption of the evidence, the CBI-FS will notify the customer on a case by case basis.

Selection of Methods

The CBI-FS will select the appropriate method for testing based on the CBI-FS’s current documented and validated methods. Certain circumstances may necessitate a deviation from documented testing methods. The customer will be notified of these deviations if the deviation will affect the requested analysis.

Reporting of Results

The CBI-FS will create a written report for each case submitted. This report will be completed in a simplified manner, reporting the information that would be best used to convey the laboratory results to the reader. The report will include; the location of completed testing; unique identification; a description of the item and, when necessary, the condition of the item; the date of issue of the report; reference to the sampling plan and sampling method used if relevant; the results with, where appropriate, the units of measurement; identification of the person(s) authorizing the report; clear identification when results are from an outside vendor laboratory; disposition of evidence if not being returned to the agency. The signature indicates the end of the report. Methods may be on report if it assists the reader in understanding the results. The following will not be reported but will be available in the case record; identification of the method used; the date of receipt of the test or calibration item(s); the date(s) of performance of the laboratory activity; additions to, deviations, or exclusions from the method; information on specific test conditions, such as environmental conditions and a statement that the results relate only to the items tested.

All latent prints searched and retained within the state or federal databases by CBI-FS will be retained for no less than the statute of limitations in place when the offense occurred. If the statute of limitations for an offense changes during the database retention period, affected latent prints may not be retained and may need to be resubmitted for additional searching.

Subcontracting Analysis

In the rare circumstance where it has been determined that the CBI-FS cannot meet the needs of our customer, we will outsource the analysis to an accredited laboratory per the State of Colorado’s procurement policy and procedure and CBI-Forensic Services policy QP07.

Release of Information

The CBI-FS will keep all information confidential. Information is provided for standard court purposes such as discovery requests and for database hits such as NIBIN, AFIS, and CODIS. In the event the CBI-FS is required by court order to release information outside of normal business the CBI-FS will notify the customer of the release of information, unless prohibited by law.

Disposition of Evidence

All items submitted to the laboratory will be returned to the submitting agency. All items created and retained by the CBI-FS will be returned to the submitting agency. If there is any deviation to this practice it will be noted on the lab report that includes those items. An example is Toxicology samples, which are retained for one year after submission.

Retained Drug Chemistry Reference Materials

The CBI-FS may retain a portion of a case evidence sample during drug chemistry analysis that may be needed for future analysis, comparison or training. Retaining such materials will be documented in the case notes and will only occur when it does not impact the ability to re-analyze case evidence or affect a weight threshold. All retained reference materials will be verified and inventoried according to the CBI-FS Drug Chemistry Reference Material requirements.