The FBI Laboratory that processes forensic DNA evidence has a backlog of more than 3,200 cases — an accumulation that could take up to two years to eliminate, the Justice Department’s Inspector General said in a report issued Monday.

The audit looked into the work of two FBI Lab units, one that deals with Nuclear DNA such as blood and semen and another that analyzes Mitochondrial DNA in evidence such as bones, hair and teeth. According to the audit, as of March 2010, those units had a backlog of 3,211 cases. Auditors estimated that it would take the units two years to eliminate the build-up if they did not add any new cases. The FBI said it plans to hire 17 new forensic examiners to help reduce the backlog, but it will take at least a year of training before the new examiners can start work.

Read the Inspector General’s full report here ^[1].