Newsroom

Harris County, TX, March 31, 2026, Harris County unveiled a new Jail Population Dashboard, the “Justice Insight Lens,” today as part of the county’s ongoing work to reduce the jail population and improve the criminal justice system. 

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and having transparent data available on what’s driving our jail population will help us make more effective decisions about how to make the jail safer. In the past, we’ve relied on jail population data to help us shape critical initiatives like our mental health diversion program. The new dashboard gives us even more accessible data that will help residents hold us accountable as we continue our ongoing work to reduce overcrowding. Thank you to the Office of County Administration, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and all of our justice stakeholders for helping move this forward,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

The previous jail dashboard offered some demographic data about the jail population, but it was difficult to use the data in an effective or impactful way. The new jail dashboard shows more data than before, including which populations are experiencing longer stays in the jail and which charges are associated with longer case timelines, which will help better impact policy decisions. The dashboard is also designed to be more interactive and user-friendly, with features that enable users to filter, sort and explore trends over time. 

The Justice Insight Lens is available in both web and mobile versions at: https://charts.hctx.net/jailpop. 

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