I was mistaken. When the child form is first initialized the height and width are correct. When the frm_srch_Load method is called the height and width are larger. Something is happening to the child form in between the form initializing and the form load. I tried putting the code you provided in the frm_srch_load method and still have the same results.

public frm_srch()
Form is correct height and width

private void frm_srch_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
Form is larger than values set at design time.