KANSAS AUDIT FAULTS STATE LAB FOR DELAYS IN PROCESSING METH EVIDENCE

TOPEKA -- It takes the Kansas Bureau of Investigation so long to process
evidence in meth lab cases that prosecutors sometimes complain that they
end up dismissing charges against drug manufacturers.

A state audit released Thursday quoted an unidentified law enforcement
officer as saying, "Stiffer penalties don't matter if we can't get the lab
results we need for convictions."

Another said: "KBI lab results take so long that suspects remain at large
and keep manufacturing meth and teaching others before they are finally
incarcerated."

Evidence collected in 227 methamphetamine cases has piled up in KBI
laboratories awaiting testing.

It takes at least 41/2 months to complete the detailed analysis of evidence
required to prosecute a single 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 who is a
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 things would improve once
he 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 the analysts.

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 dealing with the skyrocketing number of meth labs across Kansas
was the KBI's most pressing concern.

Last year the KBI reported finding 702 clandestine meth labs. Through July
18 of this year, 405 labs had been found.

In a survey of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors conducted by state
auditors, about a third said they spent 10 percent to 25 percent of their
time dealing with meth enforcement.

Last year at least $21 million was spent on anti-meth activities in Kansas.
Local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors spent $11.8 million.

Kansas ranks second nationally in the number of meth labs reported to the
federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, KBI officials cautioned that the ranking might not be accurate
because some states do not report to the agency.

KBI officials are certain, however, that Kansas ranks among the top 10 states.

Rep. Dean Newton, a Prairie Village Republican who is a member of the Post
Audit Committee, said he would ask the Special Legislative Committee on
Judiciary to take a look at the findings in the audit report.

"I want to make our community a safer place to live, and we can do that by
introducing legislation which makes it easier for law enforcement to fight
meth manufacturing," Newton said.