‘SIGNIFICANT BROKEN PROMISE’: AG Josh Kaul’s Crime Lab Falls Apart With Longer Delays, Fewer Cases

spot_img

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul promised to fix the state crime lab. He hasn’t. It’s gotten worse. That’s by his own numbers, released Dec. 9. His opponent, DA Eric Toney, calls it a “significant broken promise.”

Cases accepted by the Wisconsin Crime Lab have taken a major nosedive under Attorney General Josh Kaul. Yet, Kaul’s crime labs are taking longer to process key evidence submitted by police agencies, including DNA, despite taking in FAR fewer cases.

The state crime lab is critical to improving public safety in Wisconsin. The evidence is needed by police to solve cases and prosecutors to bring them to justice. Yet, year after year, Kaul has allowed the crime lab to languish, posting worse delays while taking in far fewer cases than the Republican he defeated, Brad Schimel, despite getting extra positions and a new firing range, which reduced travel times for analysts.

The drop in cases is stunning. Schimel’s crime lab, by measurement after measurement, was more effective in a host of areas while processing more cases. Far more cases. In 2017, Schimel’s crime labs took in 15,795 cases, while Kaul’s handled 8,965 in 2024. In fact, in 2024, Kaul’s crime lab handled the fewest cases of his tenure.

There’s no way to read that except it’s a failure.

Eric toney josh kaul
Eric toney and josh kaul

Kaul has rolled out a series of excuses that no longer make sense; he complained about COVID and now complains that he didn’t get even more positions. Instead of fixing the crime lab, Kaul has focused on launching partisan lawsuits and flirting with a run for governor (withdrawn after tepid support).

Simply put, Kaul’s crime lab posted longer delays in 2024 than his Republican predecessor Brad Schimel did in Schimel’s final year in the areas of DNA, DNA databank, controlled substances, toxicology, trace evidence, and forensic imaging. And that’s based on Kaul’s own annual report, which he released late in December 2025.

  • When compared to himself and last year, Kaul’s crime lab posted longer delays in 2024 in the areas of DNA, DNA databank, toxicology, footwear, forensic imagery, and firearms. The delays in DNA testing are especially dangerous, as those cases involve homicides and rapes.
  • Sexual assaults accounted for 24% of the DNA tests. Kaul defeated Schimel to become AG by hammering him with a rape kit hoax. Kaul, of anyone, should know how important DNA testing is in sexual assault cases. A delay in testing under his late mother AG Peg Lautenschlager led to a man remaining on the street who was then involved in the murder of a state drug agent.
  • Contrast: In 2020, Kaul promised: “We’re getting closer to catching up. It’s not like flipping a switch. The 2020 and 2021 numbers is where we’ll really see the impact (of changes).” But that never happened. He said that new hires were up to speed, the labs added more automation, and evidence submission guidelines were clarified, according to the Wisconsin State Journal that year. He promised to dramatically improve turnaround times by 2023 as a result. He failed.
  • Kaul made this promise the central plank of his campaign. He “attacked Schimel on the campaign trail for being too slow to complete crime lab tests and delaying justice for victims,” the State Journal reported in 2020.

There were a couple sort-of bright spots in 2024 for Kaul amid the mismanagement. Latent prints, footwear, and firearms were processed more quickly than Schimel. However, this supposed success is neutralized by the fact that Schimel took in more cases in all of those areas, too.

Eric toney
Eric toney

Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney, a Republican, is running against Kaul. Toney, the former president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association and Wisconsin’s DA of the year in 2024, has hammered Kaul on the crime lab mismanagement. Toney has promised to get the crime labs in better shape to meet public safety needs.

“This is the most significant broken promise of his tenure as Attorney General,” Toney’s campaign said.

Kaul, the Democrat attorney general, finally released his 2024 crime lab report in December.  The Division of Forensic Science employs 190 people, according to the report.

A Legislative Audit Bureau report in 2024 outlined a series of deficiencies in Kaul’s crime labs. “DOJ should take additional actions to improve the timeliness of its crime laboratories in analyzing evidence. DOJ should improve productivity standards for crime laboratory analysts, improve how its crime laboratories centrally record information, and improve its annual reports on the crime laboratories,” the report says.

Kaul’s main argument in defense of the poor numbers is that he needs more staff. However, the non-partisan auditors found: “The overall amount appropriated to DOJ for the crime laboratories increased from the 2019-2021 biennium through the 2023-2025 biennium. DOJ was authorized an additional 10.4 FTE permanent positions for the crime laboratories from the 2019-2021 biennium through the 2023-2025 biennium.”

OVERALL CASES ACCEPTED – WAY Down under Kaul since 2016

SCHIMEL
2016: 13029
2017: 15795
2018: 12680

KAUL
2019: 10613
2020: 8985
2021: 9297
2022: 9297
2023: 9386

2024: 8965

DNA CASEWORK:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE

The numbers represent “mean turnaround time”
Schimel final year (2018): 80 (8626 cases)
2021: 128
2022: 84
2023: 108 (4439 cases)

2024: 129 (4124 cases)

DNA DATABANK:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE

The numbers represent “mean turnaround time”
Schimel final year (2018): 29 (29,900 cases)
2021: 44
2022: 26
2023: 41 (24547 cases)

2024: 49 (22818)

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS DECREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE (slightly fewer cases were handled)

Schimel last year (2018): 43 (5283 cases)
2021: 61
2022: 84
2023: 110 (4561)

2024: 90 (4529)

TOXICOLOGY:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE

2018: Schimel last year 37 (3897 cases)
2021: 48
2022: 84
2023: 64 (3042)

2024: 82 (2063)

TRACE EVIDENCE:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS DECREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE (slightly fewer cases taken)

2018: Schimel Final Year 71 (126)
2021: 85
2022: 79
2023: 202 (88 cases)

2024: 146 (69)

LATENT PRINTS:

DELAYS DECREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS DECREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE (fewer cases taken than Schimel and the year before)

2018: Schimel final year 224 (1304)
2021: 71
2022: 68
2023: 66 (775 cases handled)

2024: 52 (696)

FOOTWEAR

DELAYS DECREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE

2018: Schimel final year 263 (19 cases handled)
2021: 136
2022: 59
2023: 71 (30 cases handled)

2024: 99 (35 cases handled)

FORENSIC IMAGING:

DELAYS INCREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE

2018: Schimel final year 62 (total cases 62)
2021: 70
2022: 83
2023: 79 (total cases 74)

2024: 88 (total cases 78)

TOOLMARKS:

LISTED AS NA

2018: Schimel final year 0 (25 cases)
2021: 38
2022: 5
2023: 0 (5 cases)

2024: N/A (20 cases)

FIREARMS:

DELAYS DECREASED SINCE SCHIMEL

DELAYS INCREASED COMPARED TO THE YEAR BEFORE (took fewer cases than Schimel and the year before)

2018: Schimel final year 209 (446)
2021: 157
2022: 167
2023: 177 (499 cases)

2024: 193 (429 cases)

spot_img

Old McDonald Had a Farm, But Tom Tiffany Really Grew Up on One

Farming is starting to define the Wisconsin governor’s race. That’s probably a good thing for Tom Tiffany because he actually grew up on one,...
sylvia ortiz-velez

Sylvia Ortiz-Velez’s Lawyer Blasts Democrat Insider Effort to Kick Her Off Ballot

Michael Chernin, the lawyer for Democrat state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee), is blasting a new filing by the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee seeking to...
francesca hong

Sylvia Ortiz-Velez & Francesca Hong: Democrats Go WILD on Free-Thinking Minority Women. It’s a Political ‘Witch Burning’

What do state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez and upstart gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong have in common? They’re both outspoken anti-establishment Democrat minority women who are...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Redistricting Hearing Wisconsin should soon have an answer about ballot drop boxes and just who can return absentee ballots. wisconsin supreme court

Justice Rebecca Bradley Calls Courts’ Map Review Doing ‘Bidding of political masters’

(The Center Square) – A conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice called the courts’ decision to hear a case challenging the state’s congressional maps doing the “bidding of its political masters” rather than a proper decision.

The court sent an order stating that it would hear an appeal of a three-judge panel’s ruling not to hear the case but said that it would not hear the case on a requested expedited schedule.

“The Democratic Party bought multiple seats on this court to achieve yet another outcome unobtainable democratically,” Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in dissent.

Bradley joined Justice Annette Ziegler in dissent against hear the case from the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy that a three-judge panel dismissed on April 28.

“It is indeed rare that I feel compelled to object to hearing a case,” Ziegler wrote. “But here, I have concluded this is too important to stand silent. The public should be informed of the requests afoot and it should have the opportunity to stay abreast of these proceedings.

“And, of course, the briefing and arguments could cause me to conclude that this appeal was proper and relief should be granted. We shall see.”

The majority of judges took offense at Bradley’s insinuation that the decision to hear the case was politically motivated, calling the dissent “false, inappropriate, and disingenuous charges.”

“Deciding to hear a case does not reflect any weighing of the merits of any party’s claims, let alone prejudgment about who will prevail and why,” Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote. “We do not prejudge cases, and for that reason, we do not comment at this early stage on the parties’ legal theories, or try to develop arguments in favor of one side or another.”

Ziegler wrote that it was “shocking” the case would be reviewed without analysis of the jurisdiction of the case, if there is a proper claim or if there is even a right to appeal the ruling of a three-judge panel. She pointed to four other times that the Wisconsin Supreme Court had determined that the current congressional map would not be reviewed.

uw-madison Administrators at UW Schools

Republicans Push Back Against UW System Tuition Increase Proposal

(The Center Square) – Several Republican lawmakers are upset with the University of Wisconsin System’s proposal to increase tuition by 2% a year after a 5% increase.

Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, went as far as saying that a pair of trustees “lied to all our faces” in committee testimony when they said that tuition would not be raised again this soon.

“Unfortunately, students and their families are the ones who will be paying the price for this dishonesty,” Testin said in a statement. “At least we now know that we can no longer take the UW Board of Regents at their word.

“My Joint Finance Committee colleagues and I certainly will not forget this betrayal when the regents and UW officials come begging to us for more money during next year’s state budget deliberations. This is simply unacceptable.”

The 2% increase for resident undergraduate tuition would be effective this fall. The university said in a press release that the increase is below the current inflation rate. The increase also includes a 3.5% increase in segregated fees, which are for student services, activities, programs, and facilities. In all, it would be a 2.5% average increase across tuition, segregated fees and room and board.

“We recognize Wisconsin families are managing rising costs in every part of their lives, and that reality informed this proposal,” Universities of Wisconsin Interim President Renée Wachter said in a statement. “This is a measured increase that helps our universities continue providing strong student support and high-quality academic experiences while keeping a UW education among the most affordable in the Midwest.”

Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett, pointed out that, over the past 10 years, the system has added 2,400 non-faculty staff positions while educating 16,000 fewer students.

Wimberger said that, if the system would “eliminate their administrative bloat,” it would free up $750 million.

“UW’s leadership is continuing to pass its payroll expenses onto students and their families, when it should be cutting its massive bureaucracy and reinvesting its funds to create a more valuable student experience,” Wimberger said in a statement. “No amount of money will ever be enough for satisfy these bureaucrats, and the bright students who attend our universities are only left with a worse education.”

Dianne hesselbein

Tony Evers Drops TRUTH BOMBS on Sneaky Senate Democrat Leader Dianne Hesselbein

At first, I thought Tony Evers had moved onto the acceptance phase of grief. A defeated Evers, looking exhausted and a bit rumpled, stood...
gina paulick

Mt. Pleasant Trustee Gina Paulick Launches Assembly Campaign Focused on Small Business, Strong Schools

Gina Cefalu Paulick, current Village Trustee for Mount Pleasant, officially announced her candidacy for Wisconsin State Assembly District 66, which includes Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant,...
dan Knodl

Dan Knodl: Order Matters, and Victims Deserve Their Voices to Be Heard on Commutations

By: Representative Dan Knodl – 24th Assembly District, Wisconsin State Legislature One of the most important lessons from the last several decades of criminal justice...
rebecca cooke

Rebecca Cooke Would Make Western Wisconsin a ‘Magnet’ for Illegal Immigration: Van Orden

Rebecca Cooke "proudly touted an endorsement from AFSCME, a union that sued the Trump Administration over efforts to keep illegal aliens from obtaining CDLs,"...

Democrat Bulls Identify as Cows & Dianne Hesselbein Takes a Shiv to Taxpayers With a Silken Smile

Republicans all posted about milk, farming and dairy today. It’s Dairy Month. Democrats posted about gay people. Democrat gubernatorial candidate David Crowley added a...
francesca hong

On Anarchist Francesca Hong’s ‘Rehabilitation Services’ and a World Without Prisons

I was going to take a few days off from writing satirical pieces because it’s a nice day outside, and I need to organize...
Fed Hikes Interest Rates

Kevin Warsh Has His Hands Full | UP AGAINST THE WALL

By: Terrence Wall Welcome to the Fed, Mr. Warsh. Warsh is now ‘Chairman’. Now, the title of Chairman really means more than it does in...

The Great Media Pile On Tom Tiffany & The Phenomenon of ‘Campaign Bros’

Don’t let the media and Democrats gaslight voters into thinking the guy (Tom Tiffany) who DOESN’T want to abolish police is the crazy one....

Compromise Shouldn’t Be a Dirty Word in Wisconsin Politics

By WI Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August Over the past several months, Legislative Republicans and Governor Tony Evers engaged in serious conversations about how to...

Republican Lawmakers Ask For Pause in Evers’ Commutation Plans

(The Center Square) – More than three-dozen Wisconsin lawmakers want Gov. Tony Evers to pause his plan to cut sentences short for some criminals in the state.

Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus, released the letter to the governor, saying crimes victims in the state need more time and more of a voice in the process.

“Many Wisconsinites are stunned that convicted cop killers are even being considered for commutation. Cases like Ted Oswald's murder of Waukesha Police Captain James Lutz are exactly why so many families believed Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing laws finally brought certainty and finality for victims and their loved ones," the lawmakers wrote.

Evers announced in April he is ending a pause in commutations in Wisconsin, and he is reviewing thousands of requests.

“It’s time for Wisconsin to join red and blue states across our country and finally move our justice system into the 21st Century by reforming our criminal justice and corrections systems to improve public safety, reduce the likelihood that individuals will reoffend when they enter our communities, and save taxpayer dollars in the long run,” the governor said in a statement.

Piwowarczyk said the governor's announcement not only caught families off-guard, but has created a problem for what he called "overwhelmed" state and local prosecutors who are required to abide by Marcy's Law that has protections for crime victims and their families.

“Victims and their loved ones deserve certainty, transparency, and respect from our justice system,” Piwowarczyk said. “Instead, families are being blindsided by commutation applications through social media posts and news reports. That is unacceptable. Wisconsin’s commutation process must put victims first, not reopen emotional wounds without proper notification or meaningful input.”

Piwowarczyk and the other lawmakers asked in their letter for a pause in commutations to allow lawmakers to:

● Create a robust public notification system and online tracking list for commutation applications;

● Extend victim notification periods to at least 90 days;

● Guarantee hearings that allow victims and families to be heard directly;

● Require full notification to district attorneys and sentencing judges;

● Remove all homicide offenders from eligibility for commutation consideration.

UW Construction UW Raises Free Speech Protections for UW Schools UW-Madison Race-based Hiring University of Wisconsin Affirmative Action uw tuition increase Diversity & Workforce Development

UW-Madison Denies Access to Payments, Contract With Economic Impact Consultant

(The Center Square) – The University of Wisconsin-Madison would not release any documents related to its contract or payments to consultant Tripp Umbach weeks after the university released a document that made claims regarding the university’s statewide economic impact.

The university claimed that it does not hold the contract and that it was denying access to what it called “draft documents” related to Tripp Umbach and payments to the firm.

“The university does not hold the contract, therefore there are no responsive records,” a public records custodian wrote to The Center Square in response to a public records request. “After a thorough search, the university has determined no record exists at the University of Wisconsin Madison related to your request.”

The Center Square also requested the documents from the University of Wisconsin system administration following the public records denial.

In April, the university released a 58-page document making claims that the university makes a $38.9 billion total economic impact on the state.

Universities across the country contract with Tripp Umbach for the firm to produce similar reports, which are then used in requests for public funding or donations to the college or university.

Tripp Umbach produces reports for health care and economic development organizations along with colleges and says on its website that “our work enables leaders to make informed decisions, secure support, and implement strategies that deliver measurable results.”

Economists regularly criticize economic impact reports produced by contractors such as Tripp Umbach for not following economic principles and only including revenue figures, along with invented multipliers, in order to produce larger numbers than the real economic figures.

Sports teams also use economic impact reports when they are seeking public funding for stadiums or large events in order to convince the public and politicians that those projects are worth large public funding figures.

UW-Madison athletics leaders used a 2022 consultant report that made economic impact claims to support sending $15 million annually to the University of Wisconsin athletics departments as part of a name, image and likeness bill ultimately signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers.

28 Convicted Killers From Milwaukee County Seek Commutations From Gov. Evers, Including Quadruple Murderer

At least 55 prison inmates from Milwaukee County are seeking a commutation from Gov. Tony Evers, and 28 of them are convicted killers, Wisconsin...
tony evers

A New Surplus Poll Lands & It Turns Out Robin Vos, Most GOP Lawmakers, & Tony Evers Were RIGHT

This morning, one imagines Tony Evers and Robin Vos awoke from their respective slumbers and bolted up with the same exact reaction. “I TOLD you...
Reducing Prison Populations is Now Sexy

REMINDER: Mandela Barnes Said ‘Reducing Prison Populations is Now Sexy’ [VIDEO]

Mandela Barnes, who announced on December 2, 2025, that he is running for Wisconsin governor, once said that he believes “reducing prison populations is...
tony evers

Tony Evers Launches a REVENGE Tour, Chris Kapenga Goes on TV & the Democrats’ ‘Deficit’ BS Collapses

I mentioned before that the Wisconsin public was watching poor Gov. Tony Evers go through all of the stages of grief at warp speed....