Indigent Defense Stats is an open-source project that has been under development since summer 2021, through a partnership with Texas Fair Defense Project. While court records are public data and most counties have an online portal that allows for some searchable parameters, the amount of data that a user can view at any given time is limited. This project intends to increase access and utility of public information to researchers and advocates who wish to make stronger, data-driven decisions and appeals.

Our organization, Open Austin, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that leverages technical expertise from its volunteer community to make information and data more accessible to the public. We partner with regional advocacy groups to break down technical barriers that prevent the creation of data-driven narratives. Here is some of our previous work: https://www.open-austin.org/projects

About the Role

Timeframe: Approximately 3-6 months
Commitment: 200 hours
Compensation: $50 an hour

The project will include monthly milestones set forth by the project manager and program partner, along with key deliverables and/or user experiences that will evolve over the course of the contract.

Please bear in mind that the qualifications listed here are not an exhaustive list. We do not expect every person applying to meet all of the described skills, but they should at least meet some of them. When assessing applicants, we will weigh these qualifications along with other factors, such as direct experience interacting with this project’s community of impact.

You can expect to:

• Take part in a collaborative development cycle.
• Work closely with key stakeholders and take part in monthly check-ins with community partners and funding partners.
• Work closely with the project manager to ensure timely delivery of commitments.
  Provide feedback on feasibility of technical direction.
• Help develop a technical strategy for meeting the project goals.

We would like it if you have:

• 2+ years experience working with a cross-functional team or contract role
• Strong technical writing and verbal communication
• Bonus: You live in the Austin area

Should have to be able to:

• Write clean and efficient Javascript and/or TypeScript
• Use modern frontend framework like React or Vue
• Create compelling data visualizations
• Use D3, abstractions over D3, or similar visualization libraries
• Write well-tested code
• Build intuitive and pleasant user interfaces
• Work with version control such as Git
• Give and receiving code feedback in a team setting