The FBI says it has completely wiped out a backlog of 1.81 million DNA samples that had piled up in its national processing system, a milestone the bureau’s Louisville field office celebrated in late August 2026 by amplifying a post from FBI Director Kash Patel. The announcement touches Kentucky directly because FBI Louisville is among the field offices that pushed out Patel’s message, even as the state’s own crime labs continue to grapple with far longer, separate delays in testing local casework evidence.
According to a post shared by FBI Louisville
on X, the bureau said it inherited a massive DNA processing backlog that had kept critical information out of the system law enforcement relies on to help solve violent crimes across the country. The post credited the FBI Laboratory and the Criminal Justice Information Services Division with eliminating the backlog, and it credited President Trump’s leadership for enabling changes that allowed the FBI to move resources where they were needed, upgrade DNA processing technology, and accelerate processing overall. Per the same post, the backlog dropped from 1.81 million samples to zero as of August 29, 2026…