Case Explained: Washington law aims to cut toxicology lab delays in DUI cases, clear months-long backlog – Legal Perspective

SEATTLE — Months-long delays in toxicology results from Washington’s state lab have slowed DUI prosecutions and other criminal cases across the state, with some tests taking nearly two years to come back.

A new law signed this month is intended to reduce that backlog by allowing cities and counties to contract toxicology testing to private accredited labs, giving prosecutors another option to get results faster.

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State experts say the state toxicology lab is dealing with a backlog of thousands of tests. Brad Lane, Washington state traffic safety resource prosecutor, said the delays can be significant compared with typical turnaround times.

“The average turnaround time for tox referrals is about 45 days, for us it’s 10 months for alcohol THC to 22 months for drugs,” Lane said.

State officials say about 19,000 cases were referred for toxicology testing last year, more than double Oregon’s referrals.

Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans said the delays have affected prosecutions and public safety. “It’s unacceptable to have a 22-month delay for a drug and alcohol related toxicology report to come back to my office for us to be able to prosecute, and this law changes that,” Evans said.

Evans said her office alone has about 1,000 pending cases caught in the backlog. Prosecutors have also seen cases in which drivers are arrested for additional DUIs while waiting for test results from an earlier arrest.

“It greatly affects it, and when we think about community safety, this person is still out driving drunk or intoxicated by drugs or alcohol on the road, and those are potential lives being lost,” Evans said.

Lane said the delays can also eat into the time prosecutors have to bring charges. “That is a great amount of statute of limitations time we would be burning waiting for our analysis to come back before we could even begin to file a case like that. I think it speaks to the gravity of the situation,” he said.

With the bill now signed into law, Evans said Seattle is exploring grant options, along with federal and local funding, to help pay for private lab testing. The change may not be immediate everywhere, as some jurisdictions still need to secure funding, but cities and counties can begin exploring alternatives to relying solely on the state lab.