FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2017
The Houston Forensic Science Center launched Wednesday a new and improved
website designed to allow attorneys and other members of the public to easily access
documents they commonly need for trial.
The new website, which can be accessed from HFSC’s website
hfsctx.gov, is searchable, allowing attorneys to look for their
documents using key words, search terms and filters. It can be accessed from HFSC’s
website, hfsctx.gov, under the “About Us” dropdown menu or at
the bottom, left-hand corner of the Home Page.
Until now, the website has not been searchable and attorneys had to look for their
documents by section. The searchable format is meant to make it easier for attorneys to
locate the information they need.
The electronic system helps HFSC fulfill its mission of transparency, and allows both
prosecutors and defense attorneys to access many documents that once required a court
order to receive.
This “eDiscovery” website houses corrective action reports and standard operating
procedures for all of the Center’s disciplines. Case-specific information is not available
on the public website. That information can be obtained by sending an email to HFSC’s
Client Services & Case Management Division (CS/CM) at
triage@houstonforensicscience.org.
“This new, searchable document warehouse is meant to make it easier for prosecutors
and defense attorneys to independently find and download documents they need for
court,” said Dr. Peter Stout, HFSC’s president and CEO.
HFSC is a local government corporation that provides forensic services to the City of
Houston and other local agencies. HFSC is overseen by a Board of Directors appointed
by the Mayor of Houston and confirmed by the Houston City Council. Its management
structure is designed to be responsive to a 2009 recommendation by the National
Academy of Sciences that called for crime laboratories to be independent of law
enforcement and prosecutorial branches of government.
HFSC currently has eight forensic sections.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Ramit Plushnick-Masti
Director of Communications>PIO
media@houstonforensicscience.org
713-929-6768 (office)
713-703-4898 (cell)
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