HFSC Board of Directors Meeting - September 12, 2025
HFSC Board of Directors Meeting - September 12, 2025
The Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) Board of Directors met on September 12, 2025, to receive operational updates, discuss quality metrics, and conduct the annual evaluation of President and CEO Dr. Peter Stout. The board approved the minutes from the July 28, 2025 special meeting, granted Dr. Stout a 3.5% salary increase, and adopted five performance goals for the coming year.
Consent Calendar
- The board approved the minutes from the July 28, 2025 special board meeting via a voice vote. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak. The public comment period was opened and closed with no testimony.
Discussion Items
- Chair's Report: Chairwoman Cohen reported on the board's recent appearance before City Council and reminded members of the final board meeting of the year in November, which will include budgetary considerations.
- Report from Dr. Peter Stout, President and CEO: Dr. Stout provided a comprehensive update on operations, including:
- Construction: The loading dock is complete, and basement construction is expected to be finished by the end of September 2025. The year-end target for full completion of electrical and plumbing work remains.
- Backlog Trends: A slide showed three major backlogs. Forensic biology turnaround times increased due to the "chiogen effect" (a manufacturer reagent error that caused nationwide delays) but are returning to the 90-day target. Firearms backlog continues to climb, while seized drugs backlog is steadily decreasing as new analysts become productive.
- Firearms Staffing Challenges: Dr. Stout detailed the critical shortage of firearms examiners. The entire state of Texas has only 72 licensed firearms examiners, compared to roughly 70 in Manhattan alone. HFSC needs 13 examiners but currently has only 2 full-time examiners (with 3 others pulled to train new hires). Four trainees are in the pipeline, with five more positions to be posted. Training takes 1–2 years, and experienced examiners are nearly impossible to recruit. The backlog is partly driven by court delays (45-month court turnaround time) and a huge increase in subpoenas after COVID. The board discussed the need for realistic expectations and the importance of a robust budget to allow for a buffer against staff losses.
- THC/Delta-8 Update: Governor Abbott's executive order on cannabis products (requiring purchasers to be over 21) has not clarified the legal status of Delta-8, Delta-9, etc. The complexity of marijuana analysis post-HB 1325 has increased seized drugs turnaround time from 7 days to 170 days, a situation that will continue for at least two years.
- Apprenticeship Program: The Texas Forensic Analyst Apprenticeship Pilot Program, passed in the legislative session, provides funding for 18 apprentices statewide. HFSC is prioritizing DNA, firearms, seized drugs, and toxicology. Rulemaking is underway with the Texas Forensic Science Commission.
- Quality Report from Jacqueline Morel, Quality Director: Ms. Morel presented highlights of the blind quality control program (10-year milestone), noting that over 4,000 cases have been submitted with 5,000 hours of sample creation. The program detected a manufacturer defect in a commercial reagent this year. Recent audits:
- AB surveillance assessment (virtual desk audit) – no nonconformances.
- Client services case management internal audit – no nonconformances, but six recommendations for improvement.
- Safety and security audit scheduled for October 20–24, 2025.
- Disclosures: A CSI with five years of experience was found to have made untimely additions to notes and denied doing so. The case was disclosed to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which took no further action. The CSI is no longer employed. Separately, an outsourced laboratory disclosed documentation errors by a technician; all affected evidence has been reviewed and corrected, with HFSC ready to coordinate re-verification upon request.
- Executive Session: The board entered closed session at 9:58 AM to discuss personnel matters, including Dr. Stout's annual evaluation. The open meeting reconvened at 10:49 AM.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the July 28, 2025 special board meeting.
- Dr. Stout's Salary Increase: Vice Chair Baird moved a 3.5% salary increase for Dr. Stout for the coming year. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote (all ayes).
- Performance Goals for Dr. Stout: Vice Chair Baird proposed five goals: (1) expand HFSC visibility at state and national levels, (2) expand local visibility, (3) continue working with the Texas Forensic Science Commission and universities on the apprenticeship pilot program, (4) expand board engagement with external stakeholders, and (5) improve marketing and communication strategies. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote (all ayes).
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 10:49 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Secretary, would you please call the roll? Yes, Madam Chair. I will begin the roll call now. Chairwoman Cohen. Here. Vice Chair Baird? Here. Director Vasquez. Director Hilder. Director Silverman. Director Corrales. Here. Director U. Here. Director Mazal. Director Huff. Here. Director Clues? Here. And that concludes the roll call. We do have a quorum. Madam Chair, you may continue. Thank you. I'd like to proceed to agenda item three. And I want to report that I did want to report on our time at City Council from earlier this week, which was really a lot of fun. For those of you who are not able to attend. So thank you for providing us with that opportunity. We also are approaching our last board meeting of the year, which is in November. We'd love for everyone to attend the final meeting, and we do anticipate some budgetary items that will be brought before the board for consideration. So we'd appreciate everyone making an extra effort to be here. Are there any questions or additional thoughts? Okay. That concludes the chair's report. Now we'll proceed to item four. At this time we'll open the floor for public comment and invite any member of the public that wishes to speak to come to the podium and address the board. We ask all speakers to sign in at the front of the room. So we are aware of your presence and that all comments be limited to three minutes. You may speak on any matter concerning the board and HFSC. At this time, do we have anyone in the audience who has signed up for public comment? Doesn't appear to be anyone. Seeing no members of the public of our audience today. We've s who've signed up for comment, I'll close the public comment period. Public comment period is closed. So now consider meeting minutes from the July 28th, 2025 special board meeting. Does anyone have corrections or additions to the minutes as presented? Okay. At this time, we'll conduct a voice vote to approve the minutes. May I have a motion? So moved. Thank you.
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