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Report: State crime lab has backlog of cases, wants more money from state lawmakers

DES MOINES – Because more police officers and prosecutors are sending forensic items to the state crime lab, there is a backlog of cases including the tes...
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DES MOINES – Because more police officers and prosecutors are sending forensic items to the state crime lab, there is a backlog of cases including the testing of DNA, firearm and tool marks, and toxicology reports.

According to information obtained by Local 5, the average turnaround for a DNA case is 231 days. Right now, there is a total backlog of 626 DNA cases at the state crime lab. There are 910 toxicology reports awaiting testing as well, according to the report from the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Graphic courtesy of Legislative Services Agency

DPS presented this information, along with other data about the department, to a group of lawmakers on Tuesday.

“The greatest challenge facing the laboratory over the next several years is finding ways to reduce the backlog and improve turnaround times, while also improving capabilities to meet the forensic needs of our stakeholders in law enforcement and prosecutor offices,” reported DPS. “Overall demand has increased dramatically over the past couple of years. The average number of submissions over the last three years is 27 percent higher than the average of the previous four years.”

DPS is asking for lawmakers to appropriate $369,408 to fund more staff at the criminalistics laboratory. DPS also anticipates that it will need more staff to perform concentration testing because of an anticipated uptick in cannabis item testing as a result of the 2019 Hemp Act.

You can read the full report here.

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