The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories are a part of the Division of Forensic Sciences within the Wisconsin Department of Justice.  To support the state, there are three separate service areas: Madison, Milwaukee, and Wausau.  Both Madison and Milwaukee laboratories are full-service laboratories providing DNA analysis, with the Wausau laboratory currently offering limited services.  There is no cost to authorized submitters, or those acting within the scope of their employment.

The DFS reserves the right to and may decline any matter that does not involve a felony charge.  Whether or not the matter is accepted, the laboratories are always available for questions and/or consultations.  When in doubt, criminal justice providers are urged to contact the laboratory in their service area for advice.  The Crime Laboratories are open Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except federal holidays.  After hours services are available via crime scene response teams dispatched from all three laboratory locations.  

Criminal defense cases are accepted upon court order and are available at no cost to a defendant in a felony action.  Results are confidential to the defense.  While a law enforcement agency may be directed to act as a courier to deliver and retrieve items after analysis, results are not discussed with them.  Services for civil cases are not accepted at any time.

* BAC : Blood Alcohol Content

Evidence Intake Statistics

In total, over 46,000 items were submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in 2019.  This means that on average DFS is receipting over 180 items each day!  As demonstrated in the table below, there was a decrease in the number of receipted items.  The decrease is likely caused by the completion of the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Case Initiative and the implementation of submission guidelines for many of the disciplines. 

The data in the graph below is based upon the offense code assigned to each case in the Laboratory Information Management System (BEAST).  Receipted cases can largely be defined by five main types: Possession of a Controlled Substance, Sexual Assault, Property Crime, Homicide, and Robbery. Each submitted case has the potential to be worked by multiple Units and certain Units are more heavily impacted by specific case types. For instance, sexual assault cases may require both a DNA Analysis and a Toxicology assignment.

Services Provided

Training

This training provides an overview of the evidence submission guidelines as well as how to properly package different items of evidence.  The training includes a presentation of the information where attendees are encouraged to ask questions followed by a hands on practical. Any local, county, state or tribal law enforcement agency within the State of Wisconsin who may submit items of evidence to the Crime Laboratory may request an Evidence Packaging and Submission Guidelines Training. Questions about scheduling training can be directed to .