STATE LAB CATCHING UP ON DRUG TESTS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Indiana State Police crime labs could be on the
verge of eliminating a backlog that has delayed drug test results in
some cases for more than a year.

The drug test backlog should be gone by the end of June, said Jason
Barclay, Gov. Mitch Daniels' special counsel and policy director for
public safety.

The statewide backlog for drug cases stood at 8,226 in January 2005.
By early this month, it had been cut to 822, or by about 90 percent.

But reducing the backlog of nearly 1,200 DNA tests could take longer.

About 16,000 DNA samples taken from convicted felons also are waiting
to be processed. A state law passed last year requires convicted
felons to submit blood samples so their genetic profiles can be
stored in a database for future comparisons.The state hopes to
eliminate the DNA backlog within two years. A new Indianapolis state
police crime lab slated to open later this year could help.

Also, Indiana has received more than $1 million in federal grants to
farm out DNA cases to private labs. The state currently contracts
such work with three U.S. companies, Barclay said.

Outsourcing some drug tests to a pilot project started in January at
IUPUI also helped reduce the drug test backlog.

"This way, it keeps some of these routine cases out of the state
police pipeline so they don't have to be bothered with them," said
Dr. Jay Siegel, director of the Forensic and Investigative Sciences
Program at IUPUI. "It gives prosecutors some flexibility in case
things get really busy.

"The project has taken 40 low-priority drug cases from Hendricks,
Boone and Hamilton counties. Siegel does the tests. Students are not
allowed to participate because of liability issues.

Some, like Vetter, are concerned about security issues connected with
storing drug test results.Siegel said the drug tests at IUPUI are
stored in a 1,200-pound safe behind two locked doors, certified for
narcotics by the Drug Enforcement Agency.