Although DPS Austin Crime Lab apparently sent a broad based letter to its 'Partners', I have recently been informed that they will not test for misdemeanor drugs even when it is DPS filing a case with a local Criminal District Attorney's Office......unless the prosecutor personally sends a letter to the Lab requesting analysis. Please reply if your office has also incurred this problem. Our past policy has been not to accept a drug case until the law enforcement agency had already submitted the drug for analysis...and we would then 'hold' the case until we received a copy of the lab results. your input?It

We have been informed of the same policy regarding DPS and our misdemeanor cases. When I have a case that needs substance analysis, I draft the letter and provide it to the evidence clerk with the law enforcement agency holding the drug. They then submit the drug to DPS accompanied by my letter.

We do not have the same intake policy regarding analysis submission, however.

I suppose each office has its own policy concerning intake agreements with the various enforcement agencies. My concern is that we need not invest administrative efforts on a 'drug' case until we know whether or not there is a confirmed drug analysis. If its not a drug, then the project is abandoned without substantial investment. This office will not accept a case unless the enforcement agency has submitted the suspected drug for analysis. This is based upon the logic that the missing link is a lab report and the sooner we have it the sooner we can process the case. My understanding is that DPS does not 'sit' on the drugs, but mail them off for either analysis or disposal....using a standard Submittal' form. If this has been done by DPS troopers, then we accept the case because we then know the drugs are to be analyzed. I will not file a case w/o a lab report. How can the Lab increase the administrative burden of the prosecutor and believe it will resolve his understaffing issue?