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The Indiana State Department of Toxicology saw an all-time high number of cases submitted for blood analysis in 2025.
Law enforcement agencies across the state submitted nearly 18,000 cases, including 13,713 alcohol requests and 10,459 drug requests (individual cases can be analyzed for both alcohol and drugs). That marks an 11% increase in case submissions from 2024. They’ve risen every year except one since the agency started 14 years ago.
The number of cases submitted so far in 2026 is on pace with last year, meaning it may “be finally plateauing,” said Tina Beymer, director of the ISDT.
At the same time, the number of breath tests conducted across the state, which check just for alcohol, decreased slightly in 2025. That data could signal that officers increasingly want to check for both drug and alcohol use, Beymer said.
The 2025 ISDT annual report, which details the increase in requests for analysis, outlines where the department stands since it transitioned out of the Indiana University School of Medicine to a state agency in 2012.
ISDT’s responsibilities, by statute, are to analyze samples submitted by Indiana law enforcement and other officials for drugs and alcohol, as well as certify officers on breath test instruments. The department also provides expert testimony on its findings, conducts research on detecting toxic compounds and educates the public on chemical testing. It does not handle DNA testing.
The agency made “significant changes to its organizational structure” amid budget constraints last year, according to the report. It did so by not filling several administrative positions vacated early last year, Beymer said. It had 23 positions filled at the end of 2025, down from 28 the year before. The department now uses the state Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, and other tasks were distributed among remaining staff.
The department’s state allocations have remained relatively steady in recent years. It’s taken in $2.7 million from the general fund and $355,000 from a dedicated breath test fund each year since 2023. That’s set to stay the same through the next fiscal year. Ahead of approval on the last state budget, the department requested additional funding for two new positions and general expenses, Beymer said, but was denied.
An additional $1.8 million approved by the state budget committee supported one-time laboratory and office renovations and new instruments in 2024.
The department is also funded via National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grants distributed through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. It received $2.3 million in federal dollars for fiscal year 2024, which fell to $778,293 the following year.
Despite the budget constraints and staffing shakeup, the department has decreased turnaround times for some of those nearly 18,000 cases it’s received.
Turnaround for alcohol tests with priority, which goes to “fatal accidents, death investigations, sexual assaults, neglect cases, and officer involved incidents,” was at 10 days by the end of May this year, Breyer said. That’s down from 13 days in 2025. Non-priority alcohol, which took 115 days in 2023 and 29 days in 2025, is at 26 days.
Drug turnaround time ebbs and flows more, Breyer said. Non-priority turnaround was at 148 days at the end of May, higher than the 129 days it took last year. Priority turnaround time has fallen from 33 days in 2025 to 22 days by the end of May.
As of June 2, the department had 470 pending alcohol analyses, 105 pending drug screenings and 1,300 pending drug confirmations — a second test that narrows down the results from a class to a specific drug and concentration.
The ISDT remains focused on reducing that backlog and turnaround times, Breyer said. But it’s also made progress toward other priorities.
The department should start to use its breath alcohol database in its everyday work later this month, she said. A new instrument for drug confirmation is starting internal validation testing, and the staff is developing a method to detect a component used in compressed air dusters, which are sometimes used as an inhalant, that should be completed in late summer or early fall.
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