Full Text of HR0451 95th General Assembly
HR0451 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois State Police Division of Forensic | 3 |
| Services oversees the third largest system of crime | 4 |
| laboratories in the world, consisting of 9 forensic | 5 |
| laboratories providing services to all of the approximately | 6 |
| 1,000 law enforcement agencies in Illinois;
and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Accurate forensic laboratory work is critical to | 8 |
| establishing the scientific truth of evidence at issue in many | 9 |
| criminal cases and erroneous analysis, imprecise laboratory | 10 |
| practices and questionable science can lead to the conviction | 11 |
| of innocent defendants and the exoneration of guilty ones; and
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| WHEREAS, In Fiscal Year 2007 more than $63 million was | 13 |
| appropriated for Forensic Services, including increased funds | 14 |
| for DNA analysis and capital funds to expand the Chicago | 15 |
| Forensic Laboratory; and
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| WHEREAS, Past sizeable backlogs in DNA testing and State | 17 |
| outsourcing to a laboratory reporting a high number of false | 18 |
| negatives have raised questions about the timeliness and | 19 |
| integrity of results reported by various forensic | 20 |
| laboratories; and
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| WHEREAS, Public Act 93-784, effective January 1, 2005, |
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| established an Illinois Laboratory Advisory Committee to, | 2 |
| among other things, make recommendations regarding | 3 |
| accreditation and quality assurance as it applies to laboratory | 4 |
| testing that will be in compliance with recognized | 5 |
| International Organization for Standardization and applicable | 6 |
| professional standards and to examine ways to reduce laboratory | 7 |
| backlogs; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois State Police's forensic laboratories are | 9 |
| accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory | 10 |
| Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB); and
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| WHEREAS, According to its web site, ASCLD/LAB is a sort of | 12 |
| "peer accreditation" program managed by a paid staff working | 13 |
| under the direction of a Board of Directors who are elected by | 14 |
| a Delegate Assembly composed of the directors of all accredited | 15 |
| laboratories and laboratory systems; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, Also according to ASCLD/LAB's web site, | 17 |
| accreditation is just "one part of a laboratory's quality | 18 |
| assurance program which should also include proficiency | 19 |
| testing, continuing education, and other programs to help the | 20 |
| laboratory provide better overall service to the criminal | 21 |
| justice system"; therefore, be it | 22 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 2 |
| the Auditor General is directed to conduct a management and | 3 |
| program audit of the Department of State Police's (ISP) | 4 |
| Division of Forensic Services; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the audit include, but need not be limited | 6 |
| to, the following determinations: | 7 |
| (1) whether the current funding of the ISP forensic | 8 |
| laboratories is sufficient, and if not, what funding the | 9 |
| General Assembly must appropriate to meet their needs; | 10 |
| (2) whether current staffing levels are sufficient; | 11 |
| (3) whether ISP's policies, procedures, and protocols | 12 |
| for operating its forensic laboratories are appropriate | 13 |
| and conform to professional standards;
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| (4) the extent to which ISP has addressed past problems | 15 |
| of testing backlogs; | 16 |
| (5)
if ISP outsources any of its forensic laboratory | 17 |
| testing, the process for selecting and monitoring those | 18 |
| contractors; | 19 |
| (6) the adequacy of ISP's quality control processes, | 20 |
| particularly with regard to ensuring the integrity of test | 21 |
| results produced by or on behalf of ISP's forensic services | 22 |
| division, including but not limited to the accreditation | 23 |
| process; | 24 |
| (7) the process in place at ISP to respond to questions | 25 |
| or concerns raised about the adequacy and/or accuracy of |
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| results produced by ISP forensic laboratories and forensic | 2 |
| laboratories
under contract with ISP; | 3 |
| (8) the party or parties responsible for conducting | 4 |
| investigations of allegations against forensic scientists | 5 |
| employed or contracted by ISP and whether those persons are | 6 |
| independent of the subject or subjects of the investigation | 7 |
| and whether those persons comply with requirements set | 8 |
| forth in the Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant | 9 |
| Program;
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| (9) the process for conducting investigations and | 11 |
| whether that process is adequate; | 12 |
| (10) the process for disclosing identified problems | 13 |
| with the conduct of ISP's forensic laboratories or with the | 14 |
| results reported by any of those laboratories to interested | 15 |
| parties; | 16 |
| (11) the practice of contracting out forensic testing | 17 |
| to private laboratories for pending cases in the criminal | 18 |
| courts, and the reasoning for such practice; | 19 |
| (12) the name and address of each private laboratory | 20 |
| contracted by the Illinois State Police for forensic | 21 |
| testing for the years 2000 to the present; and | 22 |
| (13) whether any private forensic laboratories which | 23 |
| are ASCLD or ISO accredited exist in Illinois; and be it | 24 |
| further | 25 |
| RESOLVED, That the Illinois State Police, its contractors |
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| and subcontractors, and any other entity or person that may | 2 |
| have information relevant to this audit cooperate fully and | 3 |
| promptly with the Auditor General's Office in the conduct of | 4 |
| this audit; and be it further | 5 |
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RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as | 6 |
| soon as possible and distribute the report upon completion in | 7 |
| accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing | 8 |
| Act.
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