Testing - payment

If the court orders DNA testing, the testing must be conducted by the Colorado bureau of investigation; except that the court, upon request of the petitioner and after the petitioner establishes good cause, may order testing by another testing laboratory or agency that conforms to the current version of ISO/IEC 17025 requirements, the appropriation quality assurance standards required by the federal bureau of investigation, and forensic-specific requirements and is accredited by an organization that is signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Testing Laboratories. The petitioner shall pay for the testing. The parties shall consult and negotiate on an agreement on testing methods and techniques. If the parties cannot agree, the court shall designate the testing methods and techniques, considering the totality of the circumstances. In considering the totality of the circumstances, the court shall consider whether the testing would be consumptive in nature, whether the testing would allow for the best possible collection of evidence, and whether the testing would allow for the most probative results to be obtained. If the petitioner is indigent and represented by either the public defender or alternate defense counsel, and with the approval of the public defender or the alternate defense counsel, the costs of the testing shall be paid from the public defender's budget or the alternate defense counsel's budget.