Prosecutors and defense lawyers can now pull state crime lab records through one online portal

Lawyers on both sides of Texas criminal cases can now look up and request state crime laboratory records online, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Monday.

DPS said the statewide rollout of the Texas Crime Lab Records Connect Discovery Portal, which the agency calls Texas CLR Connect and says is pronounced "clear connect," is finished. A pilot and a phased rollout wrapped up on Oct. 30.

What changes

Until now, an attorney who needed lab records for a case had to send a separate request to laboratory staff, who would then find and send each record. Through the portal, authorized prosecutors and defense attorneys can search for eligible DPS crime lab data and pull it themselves when they need it, the agency said.

Access is limited. DPS said the system assigns permissions by user role and restricts what each user can see by jurisdiction, to protect sensitive information.

Beyond DPS labs

The portal also sets up a statewide framework for crime labs that run forensic tests for Texas criminal cases, including labs located outside Texas, with some exemptions in state law. Labs that take part can receive and answer records requests through the portal while they work on connecting their own systems to it directly, according to DPS.

The portal was created under sections 411.161 through 411.164 of the Texas Government Code. DPS described it as a way to make the discovery process, in which each side in a criminal case gets access to the evidence, faster and more consistent for prosecutors, defense attorneys and labs.

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