The primary mission of the State of Alabama’s Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS) is to provide scientific assistance to law enforcement agencies (local, state and federal) that are investigating criminal cases within the boundaries of the state and to cooperate with District Attorneys and Coroners in the investigation of deaths as a result of unnatural causes. Investigations that cross state lines may also require the services of the department.

Since its inception in 1935, ADFS has had as its very core the impartial analyses of evidence. Our unique strategic placement as a separate entity within the Executive Branch has served the state well for over seven decades and is a model to which other crime labs across the country aspire. We are truly grateful that our creators had the foresight to ensure fairness for all suspects by removing political pressures and prosecution/defense bias from our agency.

Forensic science services are provided from ten (10) laboratories located throughout the state (Huntsville, Florence, Birmingham/Hoover, Jacksonville, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Montgomery, Auburn, Dothan, and Calera). The Huntsville, Birmingham/Hoover, Mobile, and Montgomery Laboratories are programmed as full service or regional laboratories. These Laboratories form the backbone of the ADFS forensic laboratory system. The five (5) satellite laboratories provide primarily drug chemistry and crime scene investigation services (Florence, Tuscaloosa, Jacksonville, Auburn, and Dothan). Death Investigation services are performed in Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile medical examiner facilities. Implied Consent (breath alcohol) services are centralized in Calera. Executive and department-wide administrative activities are performed at headquarters, in Auburn, as required by law.