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Eric Toney on Lagging Crime Lab
Wisconsin’s state crime lab is once again the focus of the race for attorney general.
Republican candidate, and Fond du Lac County D.A., Eric Toney on Friday blasted current Attorney General Josh Kaul over the latest report that shows fewer cases and longer wait times at the crime lab.
"Under Kaul’s leadership, Wisconsin crime labs have seen longer DNA and toxicology turnaround times, with performance metrics worse than during the prior administration," Toney explained. "Despite receiving significant legislative funding, Kaul has shifted blame to Republicans while critics say he prioritized politically driven cases over fixing core public safety failures."
The crime lab report from Kaul’s office shows the crime lab accepted 8,965 cases in 2024. That is down from 9,297 in 2022, and 9,388 in 2023.
Kaul said the median turnaround time for drug cases shrunk by four days, from 65 in 2022 and 2023, to 61 in 2024. But the turnaround time on DNA cases grew. In 2024, the median turnaround time jumped to 112 days, up from 61 in 2022 and 94 in 2023.
Kaul blamed a lack of staffers at the crime lab.
Toney said the problem isn't people, it's priorities.
"While Kaul complains about a lack of funding for the state’s crime labs, he’s dumping untold amounts of taxpayer dollars and resources into the Democrats’ political vendetta," Toney added.
The crime lab, and a backlog of DNA cases, was the major issue in Kaul’s first race for attorney general back in 2018. In that race, Kaul hammered former A-G Brad Schimel over the delay in testing a huge number of old sexual assault kits that had sat on police department shelves for years.
Kaul won that race, in part because of the anger over the delays at the crime lab.
“Kaul built his campaign around attacking his predecessor over crime lab delays,” Toney added. “He distorted the facts and ignored broader context to score political points.”
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