1. (a) The Commission has exempted the following categories of forensic analysis from the accreditation requirement by administrative rule:

   1. (1) sexual assault examination of a person;
   2. (2) forensic anthropology, entomology, or botany;
   3. (3) environmental testing;
   4. (4) facial or traffic accident reconstruction;
   5. (5) serial number restoration;
   6. (6) polygraph examination;
   7. (7) voice stress, voiceprint, or similar voice analysis;
   8. (8) statement analysis;
   9. (9) forensic odontology for purposes of human identification or age assessment, not to include bite mark comparison related to patterned injuries;
   10. (10) testing and/or screening conducted for sexually transmitted diseases;
   11. (11) fire scene investigation, including but not limited to cause and origin determinations; or
   12. (12) other discipline or category of analysis so determined by the Commission, including those identified and listed at the Commission's website.
2. (b) A request for exemption shall be submitted in writing to the Commission.

3. (c) This subsection describes a discipline, category of analysis, or procedure that does not normally involve forensic analysis of physical evidence for use in a criminal proceeding and for which recognized accreditation is inappropriate or unavailable. Accordingly, accreditation is not required for the following:

   1. (1) forensic photography;
   2. (2) non-criminal paternity testing;
   3. (3) non-criminal testing of human or nonhuman blood, urine, or tissue;
   4. (4) a crime scene investigation team (whether or not associated with an accredited laboratory) if the team does not engage in forensic analysis because it only engages in the location, identification, collection or preservation of physical evidence and the activity is not integral to an expert examination or test;
   5. (5) forensic psychology, including profiling, memory analysis and other forms of forensic psychology;
   6. (6) other evidence processing or handling that is excluded under §651.2(2) of this subchapter; or
   7. (7) other discipline or category of analysis as so determined by the Commission.

Source Note:The provisions of this §651.7 adopted to be effective June 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 4438; transferred effective September 1, 2015, as published in the Texas Register July 31, 2015, 40 TexReg 4907; amended to be effective December 24, 2015, 40 TexReg 9305; amended to be effective May 17, 2017, 42 TexReg 2568; amended to be effective October 8, 2017, 42 TexReg 5489.