# Alabama

Alabama has no forensic science commission, no general lab accreditation mandate and no analyst license; the Department of Forensic Sciences runs the state lab. Its Rule 702 has applied Daubert-style conditions since 2012 and has not taken up the 2023 federal change. Since 2023 it has required annual sexual assault case reports, regulated consumer genetic-testing companies, and required DNA from people it classes as “illegal aliens” before release. From October 1, 2026, arresting agencies may collect DNA and iris scans for a state biometric repository, and the rule that removed the data of arrestees released without charge or cleared is gone.

Source: https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/alabama

## At a glance

- **Oversight body:** None for crime labs. No forensic science commission or lab oversight board was found in the Code. The Department of Forensic Sciences, headed by a director appointed by the Attorney General, runs both crime lab and medical examiner functions ([Ala. Code 36-18-1](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-18-1), 36-18-2); Chapter 36-18 creates no advisory or oversight board. The Sexual Assault Task Force ([15-23-123](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-23-123), Act 2021-481), which the Attorney General must establish, recommends how to spread U.S. Department of Justice protocols on the care of sexual assault survivors and the preservation of forensic evidence. It includes a Department of Forensic Sciences appointee, has no lab oversight powers, and its required report was due August 1, 2023.
- **Lab accreditation:** No general mandate for the Department of Forensic Sciences. One narrow rule: DNA testing ordered in a capital post-conviction case is done by the department or by a lab chosen by the parties or, if they cannot agree, by the court, and “Any laboratory selected to conduct the testing shall be accredited by a national forensic organization and operate in compliance with the Quality Assurance Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories issued by the Director of the FBI” ([Ala. Code 15-18-200(g)(1)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-18-200)). The text does not make clear whether that sentence covers the department itself or only a selected lab. DNA database work must be “compatible with procedures specified by the FBI” (36-18-23).
- **Analyst licensing:** None found. Autopsies must be done by physicians licensed in Alabama and trained in forensic pathology, subject to a temporary waiver ([Ala. Code 36-18-2](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-18-2)).
- **Admissibility standard:** Ala. R. Evid. 702, amended November 29, 2011, effective January 1, 2012 ([Rule 702](https://judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/ev702.pdf)). For testimony “based on a scientific theory, principle, methodology, or procedure,” 702(b) requires sufficient facts or data, reliable principles and methods, and that the witness “has applied the principles and methods reliably.” 702(b) applies to civil actions commenced on or after January 1, 2012 and, in criminal cases, only to nonjuvenile felony proceedings where the arrest was on or after that date. It does not apply in domestic-relations, child-support, juvenile or probate cases, and 702(c) excludes cases under the Alabama Medical Liability Acts. The same standard is codified in Ala. Code 12-21-160 (Act 2011-629). Ala. Code 36-18-30 separately makes DNA evidence admissible if it meets the Daubert criteria, including where 702(b) does not apply. Alabama has not adopted the 2023 change to Federal Rule 702: the posted rule shows no amendment after 2012. Alabama appellate cases applying 702(b) to forensic evidence were not checked.
- **Post-conviction forensic relief:** No changed-science statute. Two routes. (1) DNA testing ([Ala. Code 15-18-200](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-18-200), Act 2009-768): only a person convicted of a capital offense who is imprisoned or awaiting execution may move the sentencing court for testing. The evidence must still exist and not have been DNA-tested, unless a different technology may resolve an open issue; results must be able to show factual innocence “on its face”; and identity must have been at issue. The motion must be timely under Rule 32.2(c) or have been filed within 12 months of August 1, 2009. The court “may not” order testing if exculpatory results are not reasonably possible, and filing does not stay an execution. The applicant pays unless indigent, and the court “may appoint” counsel ((g)(2), (3)). Inconclusive or unfavorable results end the petition; results that conclusively show factual innocence allow a Rule 32.1 petition within 60 days of notice ((h)). (2) A Rule 32 petition on “newly discovered material facts” ([Ala. R. Crim. P. 32.1(e)](https://judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/cr32_1.pdf)): the facts must not have been discoverable with reasonable diligence, must not be merely cumulative or impeaching, must probably have changed the result, and must show innocence or that the sentence should not have been imposed. The order effective March 28, 2024 amended 32.1(f), so that out-of-time appeals also cover revocation of probation or of participation in a community corrections program; 32.1(e) did not change.
- **DNA database scope:** Convictions plus felony and sex-offense arrests. The Department of Forensic Sciences database holds people convicted of any felony after May 6, 1994, felony inmates confined on that date, and people convicted of Chapter 6, Title 13A offenses ([Ala. Code 36-18-24](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-18-24)). Everyone arrested on or after October 1, 2010 for any felony or sexual offense “shall have a DNA sample drawn or taken” at booking or arrest; juveniles are covered as the statute provides ([36-18-25(c)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-18-25)). Expungement is narrow. The director may expunge on request after reversal of conviction (36-18-26), and an arrestee sample stays usable until the circuit court where the person was arrested orders it expunged (36-18-25(i)). Nothing purges a sample automatically on dismissal or acquittal. Since June 1, 2025, agencies must take DNA from people they hold as “illegal aliens” before release (31-13-36). Since October 1, 2026, arresting agencies “may” also collect DNA for the separate ALEA CJIS biometric repository, which has no removal rule for arrestees (41-9-625(a)).
- **Facial recognition:** Probable-cause limit only. A state or local law enforcement agency “may not use facial recognition technology match results as the sole basis to establish probable cause in a criminal investigation or to make an arrest”; results may be used only with other lawfully obtained information and evidence ([Ala. Code 15-10-110, 15-10-111](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-10-111), Act 2022-420). The statute has no remedy, reporting or audit provision. Since October 1, 2026, arresting agencies must take a mugshot for the state biometric repository, and officers may use biometric identification devices under commission rules (41-9-625(a), (e)); the section does not name facial recognition.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Oct 1, 2026 — **Biometrics at arrest: mugshot required, DNA and iris allowed, removal for cleared arrestees dropped** — Act 2026-374 (SB 118), Ala. Code 41-9-625 and other sections of Title 41, Ch. 9 · Approved April 8, 2026; effective October 1, 2026 — On an arrest for an offense, the arresting agency “shall obtain fingerprints, palm prints, a mugshot, and descriptive information” and “may obtain other biometric identifiers, including iris scans; photographs of scars, marks, or tattoos; and DNA” for the ALEA CJIS state biometric identification repository (41-9-625(a)). Former 41-9-625(b) required that all information on any person arrested or taken into custody who was “released without charge or cleared of the offense” be “eliminated and removed.” The act deletes that rule for arrestees. Removal now applies only to a person detained or taken into custody as a fugitive from justice who is released without charge, released to the jurisdiction of the underlying arrest, or cleared, and it covers that detainment or custodial event (41-9-625(b)). Officers may use biometric identification devices that meet FBI or AJIC standards, under commission rules ((e)). The repository is separate from the Department of Forensic Sciences DNA database, and the section sets no DNA analysis standard. The act also creates the Alabama Background Check Service and lets ALEA set up an Alabama Rap Back Program. The enrolled bill says “AJIS rule” in (d); the published Code reads “AJIC rule.” — **For practitioners:** Section 41-9-625 no longer requires removal of a client’s prints, mugshot, iris or DNA data after release without charge or acquittal. — [SB 118 enrolled](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2026RS/SB118-enr.pdf)[Ala. Code 41-9-625](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-9-625)
- Jun 1, 2025 — **DNA and fingerprints required before release of an “illegal alien” in custody; DNA database fee raised** — Act 2025-306 (SB 63), Ala. Code 31-13-36, 36-18-32(h) · Approved May 12, 2025; effective June 1, 2025 — An agency holding an “illegal alien,” as defined in 31-13-3, may not release the person until it has collected a full set of fingerprints and a known DNA reference sample, unless a sample was collected before. Fingerprints go to ALEA. The DNA sample goes to the Department of Forensic Sciences “for analysis and entry into the appropriate database”; the statute does not say which database. The fee in criminal, bond-forfeiture and alias or capias cases rises from $12 to $15, and the DNA Database Fund share from $11 to $14 for fiscal year 2026 and after (36-18-32(h)). Like other DNA database entries, these samples have no automatic expungement; 36-18-26 covers only reversal of conviction. — **For practitioners:** Collection turns on immigration status, not the charge; check the status finding behind any sample taken under 31-13-36. — [Ala. Code 31-13-36](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=31-13-36)[SB 63 enrolled](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/SB63-enr.pdf)
- Oct 1, 2024 — **Genetic Data Privacy Act: testing companies may give data to police on valid legal process** — Act 2024-384 (HB 21), Ala. Code 8-43-1 et seq. · Approved May 15, 2024; effective October 1, 2024 — Direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies need a consumer’s express consent to keep, use or share genetic data. A company “may disclose a consumer’s genetic data to any law enforcement agency pursuant to a valid legal process” and may not tell the person about the process, though it may publish transparency reports (8-43-3(b)). Other transfers to third parties need the consumer’s express consent (8-43-3(a)(3)). The chapter does not apply to “Biological samples or genetic data lawfully obtained by law enforcement pursuant to a criminal investigation” (8-43-5(3)). The Attorney General enforces civil penalties. The act does not regulate investigative genetic genealogy searches. — **For practitioners:** In a genetic genealogy case, ask whether the company disclosed on legal process or with the consumer’s consent; the act allows both. — [Ala. Code 8-43-3](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=8-43-3)[HB 21 enrolled](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/HB21-enr.pdf)
- Aug 1, 2023 — **Annual sexual assault case reports from police agencies and the state lab** — Act 2023-197 (HB 21), Ala. Code 41-27-13 · Approved May 16, 2023; effective August 1, 2023 — By April 1 each year, every law enforcement agency reports to ALEA the number of new sexual assault cases, how many had medical forensic exam evidence submitted for analysis, how many did not and why, and how many were closed and why. The Department of Forensic Sciences reports the number of sexual assault cases received, completed and in progress as of December 31. By May 1, ALEA sends a summary to the House and Senate Judiciary chairs that lists entities that did not report, with their contact information. The act sets no testing deadline and no penalty beyond listing non-reporters. — **For practitioners:** The ALEA summary shows how many sexual assault cases the state lab had in progress at year end. — [Ala. Code 41-27-13](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=41-27-13)[HB 21 enrolled](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/HB21-enr.pdf)

## Pending bills

No bill on these topics is pending. The 2026 Regular Session and the 2026 First Special Session have ended, and the 2027 Regular Session has not convened. Bills prefiled for 2027 were not checked.

## Checked and unchanged

- DNA database article (Ala. Code 36-18-20 to 36-18-39): apart from 36-18-32 (Act 2025-306), the history notes end at Act 2015-463 or earlier.
- Ala. Code 15-18-200 (capital post-conviction DNA testing): history shows Act 2009-768 only. Ala. Code 15-10-110 and 15-10-111 (facial recognition): Act 2022-420 only.
- Ala. R. Evid. 702 shows no amendment after 2012, and Ala. Code 12-21-160 was last amended by Act 2011-629.
- No 2023 to 2026 act on rapid DNA, digital forensics or forensic genetic genealogy was found in act titles and summaries. Acts with no summary were screened by title only.
- Not checked: acts of the 2026 First Special Session beyond their titles, and Alabama appellate cases applying Rule 702(b).