ST. CLOUD (AP) -- The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has started a pilot project with Stearns County designed to reduce the amount of time it takes to analyze seized drugs.
During the first six months of the year, it took the BCA lab about 120 days to do a full analysis and get the results to prosecutors. The new project has the goal of turning around preliminary results within two weeks.
The BCA lab will quickly provide identification and weight. Because many cases are decided with a plea bargain, or are dismissed, further time-consuming lab testing would wait until cases were set for trial.
