§ 4-23-6-5 — Powers

Indiana § 4-23-6-5

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 23: BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
• Ch. 6: Commission on Forensic Sciences

Text

(a) The powers of the commission shall be as
follows:
(1) To establish and maintain a scientific laboratory for research
and experimentation. The commission shall not duplicate
adequate facilities for experimentation, research, or information
which are available to the citizens of the state.
(2) To appoint an administrative director who shall be a physician
and should be a pathologist certified by the American Board of
Pathology and to select and appoint or accept the loan of other
personnel as it deems necessary to carry out its purposes.
(3) To establish and maintain a system of records and to collect
data pertinent to the objectives of the commission.
(4) To correlate information concerning forensic science facilities
and make this information available to coroners, law enforcement
officers, attorneys, and others.
(5) To contract from time to time for the services or opinion of
experts in connection with a particular problem or a program of
research.
(6) To engage in research and experimentation consistent with the
objectives of the commission.
(7) To establish and maintain a forensic sciences library either
alone or in cooperation with any other agency of the state, the use
of which shall be available to any interested persons.
(8) To engage in and foster programs of information in forensic
sciences for interested groups.
(9) To establish from time to time and to promulgate a schedule
of reasonable fees and to collect the same for the services of the
commission. The considerations in formulating a schedule shall
be:
(A) uniformity;
(B) recovery of at least a portion of the cost of furnishing the
major services of the commission; and
(C) availability of the services without burdensome expense to
officers, agencies, and others in need of the services.
All money received by the commission under this subdivision
shall be paid to the commission, which shall give a proper receipt
for the same, and shall at the end of each month report to the state
comptroller the total amount received by it under the provisions
of this subsection, from all sources, and shall at the same time,
deposit the entire amount of the receipts with the treasurer of
state, who shall place them to the credit of a special fund to be
created and known as the forensic sciences commission
laboratory expense fund. The commission shall, by its chairperson
from time to time, certify to the state comptroller any necessary
laboratory expenses incurred by the commission, and the state
comptroller shall issue the state comptroller's warrant for the
same, which shall be paid out of any funds collected and
appropriated to the commission. Payments made by the state
comptroller from the forensic sciences commission laboratory
expense fund shall be limited so as not to exceed the amounts
allotted from this fund by the budget committee.
(10) To accept gifts and grants of money, services, or property
and to use the same for any given purpose consistent with the
objectives of the commission.
(11) To use the services and facilities of the Indiana department
of health, state educational institutions, and hospitals and other
agencies supported in whole or in part by public funds.
(12) To establish and maintain branch offices as it considers
necessary.
(13) To cooperate with any state or local agency or with any
hospital or postsecondary educational institution in any scientific
program consistent with the objectives of the commission.
Formerly: Acts 1959, c.361, s.5. As amended by P.L.2-1992,
SEC.39; P.L.2-2007, SEC.55; P.L.215-2016, SEC.93; P.L.56-2023,
SEC.29; P.L.9-2024, SEC.102.