Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has no forensic science commission or analyst license, and its accreditation rules cover DNA labs only. Courts still use the Frye general-acceptance test. Since 2023 the State has required a statewide tracking system for sexual assault kits, put a one-year federal Rapid DNA line in its budget, and updated the DNA law to match a new promoting-prostitution offense.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Forensic Science Tracker
At a glance
- Oversight body
- None. No statute creates a standing forensic science commission or lab oversight board, and no act from 2023 to 2026 creates one. The State Police set procedures and quality-assurance rules for DNA labs as the operating agency, not as an independent overseer (44 Pa.C.S. 2318).
- Lab accreditation
- DNA only. State Police rules must cover verification of accreditation and compliance with the FBI Quality Assurance Standards for labs that submit DNA records to the State DNA Data Base (44 Pa.C.S. 2318(a)(4)(i)). The State Police may contract only with accredited forensic DNA labs (2319(a.1)). For postconviction testing, if a private lab is used and a database search is expected, the lab must be accredited by an FBI-designated body that signed the ILAC mutual recognition arrangement and must meet the FBI standards (42 Pa.C.S. 9543.1(e)(4)). No general accreditation rule for other disciplines was found.
- Analyst licensing
- None. State Police rules address continuing education for DNA lab staff as part of quality assurance (44 Pa.C.S. 2318(a)(4)), but no statute licenses or certifies forensic analysts.
- Admissibility standard
- Frye. Pa.R.E. 702(c) requires that “the expert’s methodology is generally accepted in the relevant field” (Pa.R.E. 702). The Comment says the rule “rejects the federal test derived from Daubert” and cites Grady v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 576 Pa. 546 (2003). The rule was rescinded and replaced on January 17, 2013, effective in sixty days. Pennsylvania has not adopted the 2023 change to Federal Rule 702.
- Post-conviction forensic relief
- No changed-science statute was found. A motion for forensic DNA testing goes to the sentencing court under 42 Pa.C.S. 9543.1. It may be filed at any time if it is made in a timely manner and to show actual innocence, not to cause delay ((a)(4)). A guilty plea to a crime of violence under 9714(g), or a confession, does not bar it ((a)(5)). The showing required is a “reasonable possibility” for an applicant under State supervision and a “reasonable probability” for one who is not ((a)(6)). The applicant must make a prima facie case that testing would establish actual innocence ((c)(3)). After testing, the applicant may petition for postconviction relief ((f)). The other route is a Post Conviction Relief Act petition (42 Pa.C.S. 9542 to 9546).
- DNA database scope
- Conviction-based. A sample is required on conviction or delinquency adjudication for a felony sex offense or other specified offense (44 Pa.C.S. 2316(a)). Other specified offenses include any felony, any first-degree misdemeanor under Titles 18 or 75, misdemeanors that require sex offender registration, and listed second-degree misdemeanors such as simple assault, theft and prostitution (2303). ARD acceptance may be conditioned on a sample, except for the first-degree and second-degree misdemeanor groups (2316(c)). There is no arrestee collection.
- Facial recognition
- None. No statute governs police use of facial recognition, and no act from 2023 to 2026 addresses it. Pending surveillance bills deal with automated license plate readers.
Changes, 2023 to 2026
DNA law updated for the new promoting-prostitution offense
In the definition of “felony sex offense” in 44 Pa.C.S. 2303, the act replaces the reference to 18 Pa.C.S. 5902(c)(1)(iv) with 18 Pa.C.S. 3027, the new promoting-prostitution offense the act creates. Every felony already required a sample, so the change does not widen who gives DNA. Section 9 sets the effective date at 60 days after approval, which is September 18, 2026.
For practitioners: A conviction for felony promoting prostitution under the new section 3027 counts as a felony sex offense for the DNA law.
Rapid DNA Coverdell federal appropriation ($250,000, fiscal 2026–27 only)
Under the Attorney General’s line for joint local-State firearm task forces, the act appropriates “Rapid DNA Coverdell - DOJ. Federal appropriation” of $250,000 for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. This is one year of spending authority for federal grant money, not state money and not a standing program. Whether the grant was received is not shown. It is the first such line in the budgets for fiscal 2023–24 through 2026–27. No statute authorizes or regulates Rapid DNA; the DNA chapter, 44 Pa.C.S. chapter 23, has no Rapid DNA provision.
For practitioners: In a firearm task force case with a Rapid DNA result, ask what procedures governed the testing, since no statute sets them.
Statewide tracking system for sexual assault kits
The act amends the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act. New section 3.1 requires the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, with the State Police, to set up a statewide, web-based kit tracking system within one year. Health care facilities, police, the State Police and labs must all take part. The system records collection, notice to police, police possession, lab submission, lab receipt, completed analysis and destruction. Its entries are not an official status and “shall not be admissible to challenge the chain of custody of evidence in a criminal proceeding” (3.1(g)). The commission “may” apply for federal funding; the act has no appropriation. Victims gain rights to notice within 24 hours of a system breach in which the commission believes the status of their kit was accessed, to further preservation of the kit on written request, and to notice of the system. A Crime Victims Act filing waiver applies when a delay in kit testing or DNA matching caused a late claim (effective in 60 days). The State Police annual report must add system data (effective in 18 months) and an evaluation of bringing older untested kits into the system, a duty that took effect in one year and expires three years later. Whether the system is operating could not be checked from official sources on October 19, 2026.
For practitioners: Tracking-system entries cannot be used to attack chain of custody; use the lab and police records instead.
Pending bills
The 2025–26 session ends November 30, 2026. Bills not passed by then die.
- SB 912 would add DNA collection on arrest for specified offenses, among other changes to the DNA chapter. It was reported from Senate Law and Justice on October 21, 2025 and laid on the table under Senate Rule 9 on December 9, 2025. SB 912
- HB 742 would limit juvenile DNA data and provide for its expungement. It has been in House Judiciary since March 3, 2025. Its 2023 version, HB 841, passed the House and died in the Senate. HB 742
- HB 2530 would provide automatic expungement of DNA records under 44 Pa.C.S. 2321. It was referred to House Judiciary on May 26, 2026. HB 2530
- HB 2771 and HB 2825 would regulate automated license plate readers. They do not address facial recognition. HB 2771 HB 2825
Checked and unchanged
- 42 Pa.C.S. 9543.1 (postconviction DNA testing) was last amended in 2021. The Post Conviction Relief Act, 9542 to 9546, was last amended in 2018 or earlier.
- In 44 Pa.C.S. chapter 23, the only change from 2023 to 2026 is Act 41 of 2026. Sections 2302, 2312 and 2319 were last amended in 2022, and the rest in 2018 or earlier.
- Pa.R.E. 702 is unchanged since 2013.
- A $1,500,000 federal “Forensic Science Program” appropriation appears in both the fiscal 2025–26 and 2026–27 budgets. It is not counted as a change.
- “Unchanged” rests on the statute history notes and the lists of acts enacted from 2023 to 2026, not a full citator. Appellate decisions were not searched.
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Pennsylvania forensic science oversight: Forensic Science Tracker,” uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/pennsylvania (last updated October 19, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.