Primary Department: Institute of Forensic Sciences
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Luis A. Sanchez, M.D., Executive Director & Chief Medical Examiner
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval of the proposed 2025 HCIFS Crime Lab Fee Schedule.
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Background and Discussion:
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (HCIFS) Crime Laboratory performs testing and analyses for the HCIFS Medical Examiner’s Service and for over 90 different law enforcement agencies in Harris County. In addition, it is often necessary for Crime Lab staff to testify in court detailing the testing process and subsequent interpretations and findings. In cases where the court could potentially order restitution payments from a defendant, HCIFS provides a report to the court showing testing costs. Also, HCIFS occasionally provides services to other county agencies or to outside counties. In those cases, HCIFS sends an invoice requesting payment for testing costs. HCIFS has updated its fee structure for testing and services to account for additional costs unaccounted for in the last fee structure, drafted in 2015. This new structure provides consistency across HCIFS to ensure all testing cost requests are the same. In 2024 HCIFS worked with Budget Management to develop a 2024 HCIFS Medical Examiner Fee Schedule to reflect its updated costs for providing certain Medical Examiner services. A similar exercise was completed to draft this updated fee schedule for Crime Laboratory testing and services.
Expected Impact:
HCIFS is continuously mindful of its case load and out-of-county request capacity, ensuring to maintain an appropriate workload for its Crime Lab and the ability to prioritize Harris County cases. A small portion of court-mandated restitution fees is provided to HCIFS to assist with training costs, and out-of-county payments for crime lab testing provides additional county revenue. Assisting with evidence testing and interpretation for other counties may also help solve crimes in Harris County and ensure HCIFS is providing needed assistance to our neighboring county partners.
Alternative Options:
The alternative to updating the HCIFS Crime Lab Fee Schedule is to leave the rates at their current
Amounts, set in 2015.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: B: Reduce criminal legal system exposure that does not advance public safety.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Anticipated Court Date: 4/10/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Julie Prine, JD, MFS, Chief of Staff & Chief Operating Officer
Attachments (if applicable): Proposed 2025 HCIFS Crime Lab Fee Schedule