SAN DIEGO -- State budget cuts and a backlog could hurt California's ability to test DNA samples, the I-Team reported.

Over the past 20 years, DNA such as blood, hair and saliva has been used to convict and exonerate people, but the California system is under strain due to a new law, Prop 69, which requires them to take samples from anyone in the state arrested for a felony.

The law has good intentions, but it has resulted in a serious backlog, meaning DNA tests for serious crimes are being delayed.

"The potential for a lot of work not to be done is very sad," said Connie Milton of the San Diego Sheriff's Crime Lab, which does not have a backlog. San Diego is one of 11 California counties that do their own DNA testing to prosecute local cases.

The I-Team revealed how the state's backlog continues to grow. In May 2009, California's crime lab had 53,000 samples to test; they processed over 21,000 DNA but by the end of the month still had to test over 55,000 samples. The state's lab had more cases at the end of the month than at the beginning, with crime moving faster than the tests.

The state needs more staff and funding to get ahead of the backlog, but that is not expected to happen under California's current budget crisis. With budget cuts, the lab may have to charge law enforcement agencies for DNA testing, which is something the state does for free right now. Jill Spriggs who runs the state's DNA lab said: "The budget cuts to forensic analysis are a threat to public safety."

Even though San Diego is not backlogged at the local level, the region is affected by the state's inability to process DNA samples. "If the CA DOJ Bureau of Forensic Services is forced to go fee-for-service, this will mean lab closures and layoffs," said Spriggs. "If labs close, rape kit profiles and other crime scene profiles will not get uploaded. The databank is useless without these kinds of crime scene profiles being entered. There will be no cases for the databank samples to hit to."