Hays County, in partnership with the Vera Institute for Justice, launched the long anticipated jail population study Monday.
“Never before has this information been charted and made so easily accessible to decision makers and the public,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell said. “The Hays County Jail Population Dashboard will allow us to make sound decisions for our criminal justice system based on granular, real-time data. We are partnering with the Vera Institute of Justice to analyze who is in jail and why, so we can see where taxpayer resources are going and how we can reduce the jail population while simultaneously improving public safety.”
The public-facing dashboard provides fresh data every two weeks on the Hays County Jail population in an attempt to study the drivers and consequences of incarceration. The Hays County Jail Dashboard will enable timely insight into the Hays County Jail population, furthering good governance, community oversight of the local justice system and evidence-driven policy reforms, Vera said in a press release.
