‘Something has to give’: Gee, Ursula call out WA’s 14,000-case DUI backlog letting cases expire before charges are filed

Washington’s toxicology labs are behind on about 14,000 cases. Some drug test results take up to 22 months to come back, and the statute of limitations for a typical DUI in the state is 24 months. That leaves prosecutors very little time to file charges, and some of them are running out of it.

The Washington State Patrol said things are getting better. The backlog peaked at more than 17,000 cases in August 2025, and a second toxicology lab is now running in Federal Way. Even so, the agency doesn’t expect to reach its goal of returning results within 90 days until late 2028.

Ursula Reutin, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said that timeline means the state will spend the next two years catching up while prosecutors work against a much shorter clock.

“How do you hold drunk drivers accountable?” Ursula said. “A lot of them are going to be off the hook because of this backlog. And I think ultimately it’s the taxpayers who lose.”

At a legislative hearing, the director of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys described a Kitsap County prosecutor who had DUI cases on his desk expire before the blood test results came back. Charges were never filed.

Co-host Gee Scott said the backlog should be treated as a public safety issue first.

“This is a public safety problem, right? Can we all agree with that?” Gee said. “You’re talking about 14,000, y’all. Somebody goes out there and does whatever they want to, and sometimes somebody might just get away with it this whole time.”

Gee said he doesn’t expect the problem to get fixed until the public demands it.

“I don’t think this is ever going to be solved until we, the people, truly make this a big deal,” Gee said. “This is a real public safety concern, but I don’t think it’s on the top of mind of most of us.”

‘People are going out and getting their second and third DUIs’

Ursula said the state has three options.

“The state cannot test the evidence fast enough,” Ursula said. “So you have to either hire enough people to do it, pay even more private labs to help, or change the law so that a case doesn’t expire within 24 months. Something has to give.”

Producer Andrew Lanier pointed to Rep. David Hackney, who has sponsored legislation that would allow out-of-state and private lab testing. Andrew said Hackney told him about one of the biggest dangers of the backlog.

“There are people who are going out and getting their second and third DUIs while their cases are stuck in backlogs, because they still have a license,” Andrew said. “Do we have to have a couple of cases where a second- or third-time suspected DUI driver kills somebody on the road?”

“That’s exactly what’s going to happen,” Ursula responded. “That’s not acceptable.”

“We cannot afford that,” Gee said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.