KBI'S DELAYS FOUL DRUG CASES

An audit says the agency's drug lab is so slow, it keeps meth makers
at large -- and forces prosecutors to dismiss some cases.

TOPEKA -- An explosion of methamphetamine cases and a shortage of
chemists has caused such lengthy delays in processing evidence at
Kansas Bureau of Investigation laboratories that prosecutors are
forced to dismiss charges against some drug manufacturers, according
to a state audit.

The audit, released Thursday, quoted an unidentified law enforcement
officer as saying, "KBI lab results take so long that suspects remain
at large and keep manufacturing meth and teaching others before they
are finally incarcerated."

Evidence in 227 methamphetamine cases is awaiting tests at the
laboratories. It takes at least 4 1/2 months to complete the detailed
analysis of evidence required to prosecute a case. Some of the cases
have been in the KBI labs for more than two years.

"What good does it do to find those (drug) labs if we aren't going to
be able to do anything?" asked Rep. John Ballou, a Gardner Republican
and member of the Legislative Post-Audit Committee that reviewed the
audit Thursday.

Suspects will end up being released because it takes too much time to
get results, he said.

Identification of the evidence is a key component of any meth case,
prosecutors said in a survey conducted by state auditors.

KBI Director Larry Welch told the committee that performance would
improve once additional chemists were hired and trained. Five
chemists are to be hired once a $1.9 million federal grant arrives,
but it will take about a year to train them.

KBI officials said it takes a chemist about 20 hours to handle a
single meth test, which involves several ingredients and combinations
of ingredients. It takes only two hours to complete the testing for
other drugs.

Welch said the skyrocketing number of meth labs across Kansas was the
KBI's most pressing concern. Last year the KBI reported finding 702
meth labs. Through July 18 of this year, 405 labs had been found.