The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory Bureau (WSCL) was established on August 8, 1947 when Chapter 165 of the Wisconsin Statutes was approved and published. The first Laboratory Superintendent, Charles M. Wilson, was hired to establish a laboratory in the Capitol Building in Madison. Shortly thereafter, the Madison Laboratory was relocated. A second full-service laboratory was opened in 1974 in New Berlin to serve the eight county Milwaukee metropolitan areas. And finally, in 1991, the Madison service area was reorganized further with the development of the limited services laboratory in Wausau to provide service to the forty northern counties of Wisconsin. Today the WSCL employs approximately 160 management, forensic scientists, and technicians and supports 72 counties.

            Madison Laboratory                                   Milwaukee Laboratory                                  Wausau Laboratory

The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories are accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors / Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) International Program, ISO/IEC 17025:2005. The current accreditation was granted in September 2012. Accreditation is part of the WSCL quality assurance program and ensures the laboratory provides effective overall service to the customer base. In 2017, the WSCL will be reassessed by ASCLD/LAB. External assessment by ASCLD/LAB is comprehensive; every aspect of the WSCL operation will be carefully reviewed to ensure that all requirements are being consistently met. In addition, the WSCL is applying for an extension in scope in the disciplines of Crime Scene Response and Automated Fingerprint Identification. The application for assessment will be submitted June 2016.

Contact Information

Employment Opportunities

Current opportunities and information about employement with the Department of Justice can be found here.