Supporting Documents / Links:

•   Peter Stour Support SB 991
  March 28, 2023

Senate Bill 991 - Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) Portal Reporting

The Houston Forensic Science Center and institutions across the state have seen an in the demand for documents in cases which has resulted in a substantial drain on resources.

Crime laboratory records are managed independently through customized laboratory information management systems and other records management systems.

• Records are provided via the traditional paper-driven discovery process when requested by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

This process relies on affirmative requests for the transmission of information by criminal justice stakeholders and utilizes systems that lack both the ability to communicate and an adequate infrastructure to accomplish this task in an efficient, timely, accurate, and complete manner.

• As a result, the production of exculpatory, impeachment, and mitigation evidence to authorized parties for use in court could potentially be impacted and cause severe and avoidable consequences for all the affected parties involved in the criminal justice system.

Senate Bill 991 by Senator Chuy Hinojosa will address challenges faced by crime laboratories and stakeholders across the state by requiring the Texas Department of Public Safety to establish and maintain a central computerized portal that facilitates the process for requesting crime laboratory records and for transferring those records among crime laboratories, attorneys representing the state, and parties authorized to access the records as a part of discovery.

The bill requires a crime laboratory that performs a forensic analysis for use in a criminal action to participate, in accordance with DPS rule, in the transfer of crime laboratory records using the crime laboratory portal.

• The portal may not be used as a central repository for crime laboratory records.

Senate Bill 991 passed the Legislature and was signed by the Governor into law on June 18th, 2023.