Backlog Justice Act of 2026

(a) Report. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Attorney General, in collaboration with the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall submit to the covered congressional committees and make publicly available a report on the status and needs of the forensic science community.

(b) Requirements. The report required under subsection (a) shall be prepared in coordination with forensic science practitioners, medical examiners, coroners, Department of Justice forensic technical working groups, and forensic interagency working groups and shall—

(1) examine the status of current workload, backlog, personnel, equipment, and training needs of State and local crime laboratories, medical examiners, coroners, and toxicology offices;

(2) include consideration of the study of the National Institute of Justice entitled Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices: A Report to Congress (2019) and other studies previously conducted by the Federal Government that are deemed appropriate by the collaborating Departments; and

(3) include a strategic plan on how to address the needs identified in the report.

(c) Covered congressional committees. In this section, the term covered congressional committees means—

(1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;

(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;

(3) the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate;

(4) the Committee on Science, Space and Technology of the House of Representatives;

(5) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate; and

(6) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.