State contractors – many of whom get paid top dollar to advise Texas agencies – are largely immune from reporting conflicts of interest.
Public Information Act
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Off The Books, Part One: High-Price High-Tech
State agencies are spending tens of millions of dollars every year on information technology contract workers, employees who aren’t on the state payroll – but whose pay often dwarfs those who are.
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Criminal Justice
Forensic Science Chairmen Face Off
John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney and the newly-appointed chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, spent his morning answering a steady stream of questions from Texas lawmakers. At issue, if and when his panel will re-open the investigation into whether faulty science led to the arson conviction of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed by the state in 2004.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Ethics Fines Now Searchable
In keeping with our goal of making government data more accessible, we’ve created a simple application for searching fines issued by the Texas Ethics Commission.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Dealing with FEC data
Long story short: It’s a nightmare.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: A Data Manifesto
We’ve created “On the Records” to help you explore these databases and records — and the visualizations, mashups and stories that use them.
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Criminal Justice
State technology chief resigns
The executive director of the state’s data and information technology agency stepped down last month. Brian Rawson, who spent the last three years overseeing the state’s data consolidation and telecommunications efforts for the Department of Information Resources, will run “statewide data initiatives” for the Texas Education Agency.
