Frequently Asked Questions

Allow two to three hours. Most of that is not the test. The pre-test interview — agreeing the exact questions, explaining the instrument, going through your medical history and medication — takes the larger share, and skipping it is the fastest way to get an unreliable result. The data collection itself usually runs between thirty and fifty minutes.

Sensors record several things at once: breathing from two pneumograph tubes across the chest and abdomen, sweat gland activity from finger plates, and cardiovascular activity from a blood pressure cuff. Many examinations also use a pad that detects movement in the chair. You sit still and answer a short list of questions that you have already seen and agreed. The same list is run several times.

Yes, every one of them. There are no surprise questions in a properly conducted examination. Reviewing each question word for word before the test is a requirement of the technique, not a courtesy — a question the examinee does not fully understand produces a reaction that means nothing.

One issue per examination. A single-issue examination on one clearly defined event produces a far more reliable result than one trying to cover several unrelated matters. If you genuinely have two separate questions, that is two appointments, and we will tell you that rather than take your money for a diluted result.

Published figures for properly conducted single-issue examinations generally fall in the range of 80 to 90 per cent, and the American Polygraph Association cites accuracy in that region for validated techniques. Nobody credible claims 100 per cent. Accuracy depends heavily on the question format, the examiner’s competence and the examinee’s condition on the day, which is exactly why we are careful about all three and why we decline appointments where those conditions cannot be met.

The examiner will normally discuss the outcome with you before you leave. The written report follows the same day or the next working day. Where an attorney or agency has instructed the examination, the report goes to them.

Nobody, unless you say so in writing or a court order requires it. Where an individual books their own examination the result belongs to that person. If a partner has come along, the result goes to the examinee first and is released to the partner only with the examinee’s agreement. Attorney and agency instructions are reported to the instructing party, and the examinee is told at the outset that this is the arrangement.

It happens, and it is not a failure or a euphemism for deception. It means the data did not support a determination either way. Common causes are medication, illness, exhaustion or genuine anxiety unconnected to the issue. Where the inconclusive result is not attributable to something the examinee did, we offer one re-test at no further charge.

Only where both parties expressly stipulate, before the examination, that the result will be admitted whatever it shows. That is the rule from State v. Chambers, 240 Ga. 76 (1977), and it still governs. Without that prior agreement a Georgia court will not receive the result. This matters practically: you cannot take a test, like the answer, and then offer it. The agreement has to come first, which means your attorney needs to raise it with the prosecutor before you attend.

Frequently, yes — just not as evidence. Defense counsel use examinations to inform their own assessment of a case, to support a proffer or a plea discussion, and to decide whether a client should testify. None of that requires admissibility. Be clear about the distinction, and treat any examiner who blurs it as a warning sign.

Usually not. The federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 prohibits most private employers from requesting or requiring a polygraph, whether for pre-employment screening or during employment, and from disciplining you for refusing. Narrow exemptions exist for government employers, security service firms, controlled-substance manufacturers and distributors, certain federal contractors, and for investigations into a specific economic loss where the employer has an articulable reasonable suspicion about you in particular. Even inside an exemption, you must be told you may refuse and may stop at any time, and the result alone cannot lawfully be the sole reason for dismissal.

Licensing requirements vary considerably between states, and you should not assume that anyone offering examinations has met a state standard. What you can check independently is where an examiner trained and whether their school is accredited by the American Polygraph Association, whether they hold current APA membership, what techniques they use and whether those techniques are validated, and whether they carry professional indemnity insurance. Ask all four. An examiner who is reluctant to answer any of them is telling you something.

In private professional offices — serviced business centres across Georgia, listed in full on our locations page. They are ordinary office suites in ordinary office buildings, with normal reception areas and on-site parking. Nothing about attending identifies why you are there.

We strongly prefer not to, and for most instructions we will decline. A valid examination needs a quiet room free of interruption and background noise, at a controlled temperature, with the examinee alone. Homes and workplaces rarely provide that, and an examination run in poor conditions produces a result you should not rely on. Where travel is genuinely unavoidable, ask us and we will discuss it honestly.

Sleep normally, eat normally and take your prescribed medication exactly as you usually would — do not skip a dose because you think it will help, as an unmedicated examinee in an unusual state is a worse subject, not a better one. Avoid alcohol for twenty-four hours beforehand. Tell us at booking about any heart condition, respiratory condition, pregnancy or psychiatric medication. None of these automatically prevent an examination; they simply need to be known in advance.

Yes, with a qualified interpreter, which we arrange rather than accepting a family member. A relative interpreting for an examinee has an interest in the outcome and cannot be used. Interpreted examinations take longer — allow around four hours — and need to be booked further ahead.

Nearly everyone is anxious, and the technique is designed on that assumption. It does not measure nervousness; it compares your reactions across different question types within the same examination, so a generally anxious person reacts to everything and that pattern is visible in the data. Anxiety is not a reason to avoid an examination. Genuine acute distress on the day is different, and in that case we will rebook you rather than proceed.