EDITORIAL: SOLVING A PROBLEM

Judges and prosecutors around the state were angry last year. A massive
backlog (of 10,000 cases, at one point) at state crime labs was delaying
the testing of evidence, forcing trial dates to be put off, causing
suspects to be released on bond against better judgment and, in some
instances, ruining cases altogether. "It makes a mockery of the justice
system,'' Kenton County Circuit Judge Greg Bartlett fumed after learning
that DNA evidence was not ready for a rape case set for trial.

With editorials titled "Bogging down justice'' and "Justice in slow
motion,'' we urged state officials to fix the problem.

The problem was understaffing. The six state labs -- at the request of 400
law enforcement agencies around the state -- test everything from bullets
to arson evidence. Most tests involve identifying drugs, testing for drugs
and alcohol in blood and urine and processing DNA from violent crimes.

Over the last decade, the requests for help had doubled to more than 40,000
a year, mostly because of drug arrests, while the agency's budget had
stayed static, year after year.

Now comes word that the backlog has all but been erased. It used to take
eight to nine months to get results, and sometimes longer. Now, thanks to a
bigger budget and more employees, 16,000 drug cases were disposed of in the
first six months of the year. As a result, no case is older than two months.

"It is 100 percent better than it was this time last year," said Shane
Young, a Jefferson County prosecutor, saying he's noticed a huge
improvement in the turnaround of evidence.

A concerted effort began in December after Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who heads
the Justice Cabinet, threatened to take control of the labs. But it also
took a recognition that whereas more money doesn't solve every problem
facing the state of Kentucky, sometimes it's the only solution that works.

Under pressure, the legislature had finally increased the agency's budget
from $6.5 million to $7.5 million in 2001, allowing it to add 11 people in
2002 and 15 in 2003. But many of the technician positions remained vacant
because of low salary and overtime demands.

So state officials lifted a money-saving hiring freeze imposed by Gov.
Ernie Fletcher, sent 5,200 cases to private labs, authorized substantial
overtime and assigned an employee to eliminate cases that had already been
resolved.

The result is speedier justice, both for victims and suspects.

Gov. Fletcher and Lt. Gov. Pence, as well as the crime labs themselves,
should be commended for their effort.

But this should also be a lesson for elected officials who would like to
freeze the state budget year after year, who have pledged to never raise
taxes from here to infinity, and who believe that the key to good
government is to cut, cut, cut no matter where and when.

By all means be fiscally conservative. But when there's a need, and money
would help, don't be afraid to spend.