Forensics

Better than CSI? New crime lab touted, but county and city rift hangs over $7million wonder

A former Nabisco factory, Texas Medical Center's historic John P. McGovernBuilding will house the new genetics lab for Harris County Institute of ForensicSciences (HCFIS).
Photo by Tyler Rudick
Harris County chief medical examiner Dr. Luis A. Sanchez poses inside the futureforensics laboratory.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
County officials select their honorary hard hats and shovels.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
Picture one of Texas' most advanced DNA facilities.
Photo by Tyler Rudick
Harris County officials break ground.
Photo by Tyler Rudick

Inside an industrial space that once housed a cookie factory, Harris County officials ceremoniously broke ground Tuesday on what they hope will become one of the nation's top forensic laboratories when it opens in the fall.

Along Holcombe in the Texas Medical Center's historic John P. McGovern Building, a long 16,000-square-foot space — originally built in the late 1940s as a rail depot for Nabisco supplies — will be converted by Vaughn Construction and designers Johnston, LLC into a state-of-the-art genetics laboratory for a 40-person team of DNA analysts and crime scene specialists within the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (HCIFS).

"There is no doubt that this build out is critical, " county chief medical examiner Dr. Luis A. Sanchez said during the ceremony. "The HCIFS Forensic Genetics Laboratory is one of the busiest in the nation, analyzing more than 3,000 cases a year. With a turnaround time of only 60 days and no backlog of untested cases, our track record is unparalleled in the State of Texas."

"What you see on TV won't hold a candle to what they're going to be able to do at the institute in the near future," laughed Harris C ountry district attorney Pat Lykos.

Dubbed the Regional Forensic Genetics Laboratory, the new facility will concentrate primarily on the forensic subsets gene analysis and serology, the study of bodily fluids.

"We contributed $2 million of our forfeiture money to equip the new lab, so they'll have very advanced tools," Harris Country district attorney Pat Lykos told CultureMap after the groundbreaking. "They're even going to have robotics."

In total, the county is spending $7 million to see the DNA lab fully built.

The Institute of Forensic Sciences already works with more than 100 area law-enforcement agencies, Lykos said, and as the county continues to grow in population, forensics efforts will need to expand.

Earlier this year, the country Commissioners Court approved plans to construct a new nine-story regional crime lab within the Texas Medical Center, slated for completion in 2015. "What you see on TV won't hold a candle to what they're going to be able to do at the institute in the near future," Lykos laughed.

But the ongoing political drama over who will oversee Houston area forensics, the city or the country, loomed behind Tuesday's groundbreaking. Mayor Annise Parker, who is pushing for an independent crime lab run by an approved board, was not in attendance.

Parker wants the city's troubled crime lab — which has faced multiple controversies for mismanaged evidence and thousands of untested rape kits — to be removed from the Houston Police Department. Harris County wants the medical examiner rather than an independent board to be in charge though.

If Harris County and city officials cannot come to an agreement a second new crime lab could end up getting built by the city for an equally high cost.

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family