West Virginia
West Virginia has no forensic science commission. The State Police supervise DNA labs, and since June 10, 2026 the State Police Forensic Laboratory, not the Bureau for Public Health, sets DUI blood and breath testing standards. West Virginia applies Rule 702’s reliability test only to novel science and has not adopted the 2023 federal change. DNA is taken on conviction of listed offenses, not on arrest. Since June 12, 2026, evidence in missing persons cases unresolved after a year must be kept permanently.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Forensic Ledger
At a glance
- Oversight body
- No forensic science commission or general lab oversight board. The State Police “shall supervise all DNA forensic laboratories in this state,” may inspect them, and may bar a noncompliant lab from information exchange (W. Va. Code 15-2B-4(c)). The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission, a subcommittee of the Governor’s Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction, manages “a statewide system to facilitate the timely and efficient collection, submission, testing, retention, tracking, and disposition of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases” (15-9B-1(a)). The Marshall University Forensic Science Center’s Forensic Analysis Laboratory is declared to be engaged in the administration of criminal justice (15-2-24c).
- Lab accreditation
- DUI blood analysis only. Since June 10, 2026, it “shall be conducted by an accredited laboratory or by the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory” (W. Va. Code 17C-5-8(e)(2)); it previously said “a qualified laboratory.” The statute does not name an accrediting body or standard. No statute requires accreditation of the State Police Forensic Laboratory itself. DNA testing and quality-assurance standards are set by State Police legislative rule (15-2B-4(d)).
- Analyst licensing
- None for forensic analysts. Since June 10, 2026, the State Police Forensic Laboratory sets methods and standards for DUI blood and breath analysis by legislative rule and reviews them at least every two years (17C-5-8(e)(1)). It also certifies officers “in the operation of any equipment required for the collection and analysis of a breath sample” (17C-5-4(f)). Both roles moved from the Bureau for Public Health in 2026.
- Admissibility standard
- Rule 702, with the reliability test limited to novel science. W. Va. R. Evid. 702(a) is the general expert rule. Under 702(b), “expert testimony based on a novel scientific theory, principle, methodology, or procedure” is admissible only if it is “based on sufficient facts or data,” is “the product of reliable principles and methods,” and “the expert has reliably applied” them. The comment cites syllabus point 2 of Harris v. CSX Transportation, 232 W. Va. 617 (2013). The posted rules show revisions effective September 2, 2014, keep “has reliably applied,” and have no preponderance language, so West Virginia has not adopted the 2023 change to Federal Rule 702 (W. Va. R. Evid.).
- Post-conviction forensic relief
- No. A person serving a felony sentence may move for DNA testing (W. Va. Code 15-2B-14). The court must grant it on listed findings, including that evidence “was tested previously, but the requested DNA test would provide results that are reasonably more discriminating and probative” and that the method is “generally accepted within the relevant scientific community” (15-2B-14(f)(6)(B), (f)(7)). The right “is absolute and may not be waived,” including in a plea agreement (15-2B-14(m)). No statute addresses new or changed forensic science generally.
- DNA database scope
- Conviction-based; no arrestee collection. Samples are required on conviction of listed offenses: homicide, assault and battery offenses, sex offenses under 61-8B and 61-8D, listed property and burglary offenses, felony drug offenses, and attempted murder, kidnapping or sex offenses (W. Va. Code 15-2B-6(a)-(d)). Registered sex offenders also give samples (15-2B-6(h)), and the State Police may require one from any convicted felon under criminal-justice supervision (15-2B-6(g)). Partial-match searches are allowed for murder, kidnapping and first- and second-degree sexual assault “where all investigated leads have been exhausted” (15-2B-16).
- Facial recognition
- No statute. Code searches for “facial recognition” and “rapid DNA” return nothing, and “genealogy” appears only in sections on archives and cemetery access. Three 2026 bills died in committee: HB 4628, the PEEPS Act, on police access to surveillance databases that include facial recognition data, and HB 5034 and HB 5567, on biometric privacy.
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Probable-cause breath and blood or breath testing of surviving drivers after fatal crashes; blood needs consent or a warrant
When an officer “has probable cause to believe” the surviving driver in a crash that killed another person committed DUI (17C-5-2), the officer “may require” a preliminary breath test and a secondary blood or breath test for alcohol or drugs. Absent the driver’s written consent, a blood test “may not be performed without issuance of a warrant signed by a magistrate or a circuit judge.” Only a doctor, a registered nurse or a trained medical technician may draw the blood, at the officer’s request. Anyone conducting a test is immune from civil and criminal liability. The testing rules for drivers who die (17C-5B-1) are unchanged by this section. The act’s changes to 17C-5B-1 and 17C-5B-2 were not compared.
For practitioners: Testing is not automatic. Ask for the officer’s probable cause basis, and for a blood test, the written consent or the warrant. Check who drew the blood.
Evidence in unresolved missing persons cases kept permanently; such cases can qualify as cold cases for the Fusion Center database
New 15-3D-10: law enforcement “shall permanently retain and shall not destroy unresolved missing persons complaint records and evidence,” and “Physical and biological evidence shall be retained permanently by the lead law-enforcement agency or the West Virginia State Police.” Files must be digitized, and documentation goes to the West Virginia Fusion Center. A complaint still unresolved one year after filing is an “unresolved missing persons complaint” (15-3D-3(14)). In the cold case database law, 15A-12-9, “a missing person” becomes “an unresolved missing persons complaint,” and agencies now “shall provide” the information the Fusion Center requires for each cold case; the 2024 text said “may provide.”
For practitioners: In a case tied to a missing person reported more than a year earlier, ask the lead agency or the State Police for the retained biological evidence; destruction is barred.
DUI testing standards and breath-test certification move to the State Police Forensic Laboratory; outside DUI blood labs must be accredited
Methods and standards for DUI blood and breath analysis are now set by legislative rule of the “West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory,” replacing the “state Bureau for Public Health,” and the existing duty to review them every two years transfers to the Lab (17C-5-8(e)(1)). DUI blood analysis must be done by “an accredited laboratory,” replacing “a qualified laboratory,” or by the State Police lab (17C-5-8(e)(2)); “accredited” is not defined. Officer certification on breath equipment now comes from the State Police lab (17C-5-4(f)), and approval of preliminary breath devices for juveniles moves from the “division of health” to the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory (17C-5-6a). The act also corrects juvenile alcohol figures (.0002 to .02; .0008 to .08), removes propoxyphene from the required drug panel, deletes urine references, and lets “any professional trained in phlebotomy” draw blood (17C-5-6). Whether the State Police have adopted replacement rules was not checked.
For practitioners: For a DUI blood result from a lab other than the State Police lab, ask for its accreditation and the accrediting body. For tests after June 10, 2026, ask which rules governed the method.
HB 5406 (enrolled) W. Va. Code 17C-5-8 17C-5-8, October 2025 (archived)
Statewide cold case database created, with DNA and CODIS status fields
The West Virginia Fusion Center “shall develop a secure database that contains all information related to each cold case in any jurisdiction in the state” and keep it indefinitely. A cold case is an investigation of a listed felony, a missing person or unidentified remains “where all investigative leads have been exhausted.” Agencies and the State Fire Marshal “may provide” reports covering, among other things, whether probative unanalyzed suspect DNA is available, whether a crime-scene DNA profile has been uploaded to CODIS, whether victim reference DNA is available, the State Police Forensic Lab case number, and whether prints, dental records, shell casings or other physical evidence exist. As enacted, agencies “may provide” the information the Fusion Center requires; HB 4345 (2026) changed that to “shall provide.”
For practitioners: In a cold case, ask whether the agency reported the DNA and CODIS status to the Fusion Center database.
Hospitals must have a trained sexual assault examiner available or a transfer agreement
Commission rules must include “Requiring a hospital to have trained health care provider available or transfer agreement as provided in a county plan, to complete a sexual assault forensic examination” (15-9B-4(b)(3)). Available includes access to a trained examiner by telehealth. A new definition of “Hospital” covers licensed facilities with a 24-hour emergency department. The existing 30-day kit submission to the State Police lab and the retention rules did not change.
For practitioners: If a kit was collected without a trained examiner, ask for the county plan and the hospital’s transfer agreement.
Pending bills
No bill on these topics is pending. The 2026 regular session adjourned March 14, 2026. Bills still in committee at adjournment, and not enacted:
- SB 861 (2026), moving DUI test certification and standards to the State Police Forensic Laboratory; its substance was enacted through HB 5406.
- SB 13 (2026) on DNA data kept for law enforcement; HB 5596 and HB 5597 (2026) on court costs for the State Police Forensic Laboratory Fund; SB 638 (2026), a Forensic Pathology Recruitment Program.
- HB 4628 (2026, PEEPS Act), HB 5034 and HB 5567 (2026, biometric privacy).
- 2025: SB 31 (DNA data), SB 120 (DNA identification system), SB 230 (DNA collection from those convicted) and HB 2612 (when DNA records may be used) (2026 bill list).
Checked and unchanged
- W. Va. R. Evid. 702: the posted rules show revisions effective September 2, 2014.
- W. Va. Code 15-2B-14 (post-conviction DNA), 15-2B-6 (DNA collection) and 15-2B-16 (partial matches): no 2023 to 2026 enacted bill amends them in the passed-bill lists. The Code site's bill history for these sections lists nothing later than 2004 for 15-2B-14, 2022 for 15-2B-6 and 2011 for 15-2B-16.
- State Police legislative rules: the 2023 to 2026 rules bills for the Department of Homeland Security (SB 335/2023, SB 36/2024, SB 336/2025, SB 281/2026) authorized no State Police rules on DNA, forensic testing or chemical testing.
Last updated October 20, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “West Virginia forensic science oversight: Forensic Ledger,” uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/west-virginia (last updated October 20, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.