Attorneys wishing to request data from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) must submit their request using the Attorney Portal on the BCA’s GovQA page. 

To ensure appropriate system access, attorneys submitting a request for the first time must request an account by clicking Request Attorney Portal Account and completing a brief list of questions. Requests submitted via other means will be returned to the requester with instructions to submit their request through the BCA’s GovQA portal.

If you are not an attorney but are seeking BCA data, go to the BCA’s GovQA page and select Submit a Data Request.

BCA laboratory data requests

Attorneys must use the Attorney Portal to request documents and records from the BCA Forensic Science Services (FSS) division. These requests fall into two categories:

• General lab requests: Prosecuting attorneys and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office can request documentation related to specific cases and court proceedings.
• Calibration lab requests: Any attorney can submit requests for data from the BCA Calibration Laboratory.

Brady/Giglio requests

Prosecuting agencies can also submit standalone Brady/Giglio requests through the Attorney Portal. A Brady/Giglio request is a formal inquiry by a prosecuting agency seeking potential exculpatory or impeachment evidence related to BCA employees identified as witnesses in active court proceedings. Prosecuting agencies making Brady/Giglio requests of the BCA must follow the GovQA process.

A requesting agency can monitor the progress of their request in GovQA in its My Request Center and will be notified when the responsive data is ready to go. Data will be available via a secure link provided in My Request Center.

Calibration laboratory documents

In addition to reports available through a data request, the BCA maintains information about DMT devices and testing processes on the BCA website, including the following:

• Dry gas cylinder certificates of analysis
• Simulator solution certificates of analysis
• Uncertainty of measurement (DMT calibration uncertainty and breath test uncertainty of measurement)