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September 10, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Public Safety & Assembly Committee on Public Safety
July 12, 2024 - Presented to: Committee on Revision of the Penal Code
July 1, 2024 - Due to legislation enacted a decade ago, the availability of postsecondary courses at state prisons has expanded significantly. In this report, we focus on California Community College programs at state prisons. After providing background on these programs, we cover trends in student outcomes and explain how these programs are funded. We then assess the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and make several recommendations aimed at improving them.
May 28, 2024 - In this post, we discuss the Juvenile Custodial Interrogations mandate, which is a newly identified state mandate funded in the Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision budget.
April 11, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation
March 5, 2024 - This letter responds to a request for the LAO to examine the current and future availability of court reporters in the trial courts, and provide data and findings in key specified areas.
March 4, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 On Public Safety
February 23, 2024 - This post provides an overview of the Governor’s 2024-25 proposed funding levels for the judicial branch and our assessments and recommendations on a proposal to provide $19 million ongoing General Fund to support self-help centers.
February 20, 2024 - In this post, we evaluate the Governor's proposal to provide $4.4 million to county probation departments to support the temporary increase in the Post Release Community Supervision population resulting from Proposition 57 (2016).
February 14, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation
February 9, 2024 - This post provides an overview of the Governor’s 2024-25 proposed funding levels for the Department of Justice. It also provides our assessment and recommendations on a proposed $100 million loan from the state Litigation Deposit Fund to the state General Fund.
December 19, 2023 - Presented to: Select Committee on Retail Theft
November 8, 2023 - California’s prison medical system has been under direct management of a Receiver appointed by a federal court since 2006 because the state was found to be providing unconstitutional levels of care. In this brief, we provide an overview of the establishment of the Receivership, changes to prison medical care made by the Receiver, and the steps that the state needs to complete in order to exit the Receivership. We also raise some issues for legislative consideration related to the Receivership.
October 16, 2023 - The 2023-24 budget provides $18.6 billion from the General Fund for judicial and criminal justice programs, including support for program operations and capital outlay projects. This is a decrease of $1.2 billion, or 6 percent, below the revised 2022-23 spending level. A large portion of this reduction is due to the expiration of limited-term funding provided in previous years.