Wyoming
Wyoming has no forensic science commission and no general lab accreditation statute; accreditation is required only for labs outside the state crime laboratory that do court-ordered post-conviction testing. Chemical-test analysts need a Department of Health permit. Since July 1, 2024, the Division of Criminal Investigation has run a funded forensic genetic genealogy pilot program, with no statutory limits on genealogy searches. Since July 1, 2025, people convicted on or before July 1, 2008 need not show due diligence to get post-conviction DNA testing.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Forensic Ledger
At a glance
- Oversight body
- No forensic science commission. The Division of Criminal Investigation, in the Attorney General’s office (W.S. 9-1-611), keeps the criminal identification systems (9-1-623) and the state DNA database (7-19-401 to -405). Statutes refer to “the Wyoming state crime laboratory” (7-12-306). The Department of Health issues permits to chemical-test analysts (31-6-105).
- Lab accreditation
- No general crime lab accreditation statute. Two post-conviction rules apply to labs other than the state crime laboratory. Court-ordered post-conviction DNA testing done elsewhere must be by a lab that meets DNA Advisory Board standards and “Is accredited by the American society of crime laboratory directors accreditation board” (W.S. 7-12-306(b)). Under the Post-Conviction Determination of Factual Innocence Act, court-ordered forensic testing outside the state crime lab must be done by a lab “accredited by the American society of crime laboratory directors accreditation board, ANSI-ASQ national accreditation board or a successor accrediting body” (7-12-404(k)). Contractors doing DNA typing for the database must follow national quality assurance and proficiency testing standards (7-19-403(c)).
- Analyst licensing
- None for forensic analysts generally. Blood, breath or urine analysis is valid only if done by methods the Department of Health approves “and by an individual possessing a valid permit to conduct the analysis,” issued and revocable by that department (W.S. 31-6-105(a)). The Department’s rules were not reviewed.
- Admissibility standard
- Daubert, adopted in Bunting v. Jamieson, 984 P.2d 467 (Wyo. 1999) (“We now expressly adopt the analysis provided by Daubert ... and its progeny as guidance”), as quoted in Loepp v. Ford, 2024 WY 63. W.R.E. 702 took the four-part federal text by order of May 20, 2019, effective August 1, 2019 (W.R.E.). No later evidence-rule order appears on the court’s amendment list. Wyoming has not adopted the 2023 change to Federal Rule 702.
- Post-conviction forensic relief
- Yes, factual-innocence petitions. Under the Post-Conviction Determination of Factual Innocence Act (W.S. 7-12-401 to -407, 2018), “newly discovered evidence” includes “relevant forensic scientific evidence” that was not available at trial or “that undermines forensic evidence presented at trial,” meaning new research or information that repudiates the foundational or applied validity of the method (7-12-402(a)(iv)(C)). The petitioner must still show a bona fide issue of factual innocence. Post-conviction DNA testing is separate (W.S. 7-12-302 to -315).
- DNA database scope
- Conviction-based. Every person convicted of a felony on or after July 1, 1997, and every person in custody on or after that date for a felony conviction, must give a sample (W.S. 7-19-403(a)). No arrestee collection was found.
- Facial recognition
- No statute regulating government facial recognition was found in the titles searched. HB 181 (2026), which would have barred governmental entities from using biometric data to identify people, was not considered for introduction. The 2026 government data privacy act (SF 20, 2026 Wyo. Sess. Laws ch. 48, effective March 6, 2026) excludes the judicial branch and law enforcement agencies from its definition of government entity (SF 20).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Post-conviction DNA testing: due-diligence cutoff moved from January 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008
A court may not order DNA testing where the trial or plea came after the cutoff date and the person did not request DNA testing or present DNA evidence for strategic or tactical reasons or through lack of due diligence, unless that failure resulted from ineffective assistance of counsel. The cutoff moved from January 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008. People convicted on or before July 1, 2008 need not make that showing.
For practitioners: Clients convicted between 2000 and mid-2008 who did not seek DNA testing at trial may now petition without the due-diligence bar.
Forensic genetic genealogy pilot program at the Division of Criminal Investigation
Creates a forensic genetic genealogy pilot program run by the Division. Program money may pay for “forensic genetic genealogical DNA analyses and searches to assist in generating leads for criminal investigations or identifying human remains” in Division investigations, and for grants to Wyoming law enforcement agencies through a Division application process. The act appropriates $150,000 from the general fund for July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2029, only for the program. The program ends, and no grants may be awarded, after June 30, 2029. The Division must adopt rules and may use other available funds for genealogy work.
For practitioners: The act funds genealogy searches but sets no warrant, consent or database-use limits; ask for the Division’s rules and the lab and database used in a genealogy-led case.
Pending bills
No bill on these topics is pending. Measures that did not become law:
- HB 172 (2023), “Evidence preservation,” would have required keeping sexual assault biological evidence for at least 10 years and then until the death of the person whose evidence was collected or 50 years from collection. It died in committee on February 24, 2023 (HB 172).
- HB 181 (2026), “Biometric data and license plate readers-regulation,” would have barred governmental use of biometric data to identify people, geolocation tracking and license plate readers, with a civil cause of action. It was not considered for introduction on February 13, 2026 (HB 181).
- HB 91 (2026), “Ban on government social scoring with AI,” was not considered in the House Committee of the Whole on February 23, 2026.
Checked and unchanged
- W.S. 7-19-401 to -405 (DNA database), 7-12-306 (testing laboratory) and 31-6-105 (chemical-test permits): no 2023 to 2026 act amended them. Every 2023 to 2026 bill that received a chapter number was scanned.
- W.R.E. 702: last amended by order of May 20, 2019, effective August 1, 2019.
- No 2023 to 2026 Wyoming Supreme Court decision changing the expert evidence standard was found. Morris v. State, 2025 WY 98 (polygraph results, ineffective assistance), applies existing law.
- Outside this tracker’s scope: HB 29 (2024, ch. 86), a Division cold case database, and 2025 SF 75 on coroner property.
- The statute PDFs carry no history notes, so “unchanged” findings rest on the session-law lists and enacted texts. Only Titles 1, 6, 7, 9, 14, 31 and 35 were searched for facial recognition, accreditation and genealogy terms.
Last updated October 20, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Wyoming forensic science oversight: Forensic Ledger,” uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/wyoming (last updated October 20, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.