Harris County Reform Work

Building Transparency Through Our Data Dashboard

Our Harris County data dashboard, which we launched in 2018, puts data on disparities in Harris County’s justice system right at your fingertips to hold leaders accountable. The dashboard, created with January Advisors and with support from Microsoft Cities Team, overlays data from more than 800,000 criminal court cases with demographic information to create a comprehensive view of case outcomes in Houston – including the degree to which arrests are skewed in communities of color, how bail amounts differ, and individual judges’ sentencing decisions.

This dashboard has been used to evaluate Harris County’s marijuana diversion program – finding that it was successful in reducing the number of charges filed, but unsuccessful in reducing the dramatic racial disparities in marijuana cases. Furthermore, the Justice Collaborative and economist John Pfaff used our dashboard data to analyze DA Ogg’s practices and rebut claims of progress during her request for 102 new prosecutors. Grits for Breakfast has analyzed drug and other arrest data in making the case for needed reforms.