Licensing staff reports renewals data, introduces new coordinator and transition to ALICE platform

The Texas Forensic Licensing Advisory Committee heard an administrative update Tuesday on license totals, upcoming renewals, and a planned migration from the TopClass system to a new application platform known as ALICE.

Committee members were told the office’s licensing roster includes roughly 1,315 active licensees across multiple licensure categories and that 241 licensees in a non‑interpreting category are not expected to renew until November 17, 2026. Staff said provisional licenses include a small number of holders with expirations in early 2025 and that a temporary-licensure cohort has expirations as late as 2027.

The report, delivered by licensing staff, highlighted a recent interface report showing renewals for fiscal 2024 and breakouts by license type. Members asked staff to add a quarterly metric showing the number of new licensees to the slide set so the committee can monitor volume and hiring cycles.

The committee was introduced to Chelsea Estes, named the new commission coordinator. Staff said Estes will handle logistics, reimbursements, board book preparation, and outreach related to training and education, including upcoming DNA‑related training.

Staff also described the office’s plan to replace the current TopClass-based system with ALICE, a platform designed for credentialing and licensure workflows. A project manager in the Office of Port Administration is leading the implementation; staff reported a programmer turnover caused a minor delay but said they hope to launch ALICE by summer 2025 so the next heavy renewal cycle will run on the new platform.

Members called the administrative materials thorough and requested the additional quarterly new‑license metric. The update closed with staff offering to circulate further progress reports as implementation proceeds.

The committee did not take formal action on the administrative update during the meeting.