Mayor Annise Parker says the city is committed to an independent crime lab and work continues toward that goal.
The Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday that the police lab has a backlog of about 1,400 cases with newly collected untested evidence, a number that grows by about 75 new cases a month.
The city council in January approved hiring four companies to process a backlog of about 4,000 rape kits, including evidence going back to 1994.