HFSC board approves revised FY26 budget, hears updates on backlogs and Texas forensic apprenticeship law

The Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) board unanimously approved a revised fiscal year 2026 budget to match the allocation passed by the city and approved line-item reallocations for fiscal year 2025, board members said during a special session focused on finance and operational updates.

Dr. Stout, a HFSC staff member who briefed the board on casework backlogs and laboratory capacity, told directors the DNA backlog spike was tied to a temporary pause in testing by Signature Science while the lab addressed a manufacturing error, and that backlog figures for kits over 90 days are already beginning to fall now that testing has resumed. He said seized-drug turnaround times are improving after three analysts were signed off and three more are in the pipeline.

The budget briefing explained that the city—s final FY26 allocation for HFSC was $33,920,000 and that staff expects to seek a final HFSC budget of $34,880,000 at a future meeting. HFSC—s original request was $38,000,000. The board approved the current, city-matching budget by voice vote; no roll-call names were recorded in the motion transcript and the action passed unanimously.

Why it matters: The board vote sets HFSC—s short-term spending limits while staff works to address long-standing capacity…