Staff
Heather Gonzalez
(916) 319-8359
Emergency Services and Business Regulation
Anita Lee
(916) 319-8321
Courts, Department of Justice, Gambling
Caitlin O'Neil
(916) 319-8351
State Prisons, County Jails, Sentencing
Orlando Sanchez Zavala
(916) 319-8307
Correctional Health Care, Rehabilitation Programs, Juvenile Justice, Community Corrections
Drew Soderborg
(916) 319-8346
Deputy Legislative Analyst: Public Safety and Business Regulation


Publications

Criminal Justice

To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.



Handout

LAO Compromise: General Fund Reductions to the Judicial Branch

June 12, 2008 - LAO compromise for Item 0250 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee.


Handout

Prison and Parole Population Management Options

March 13, 2008 - Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 4


Handout

LAO Alternative Budget Options

March 13, 2008 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No.4


Handout

Public Safety/Parole Realignment Property Tax Redirection

March 10, 2008 - Water and Waste District Enterprise Special District Property Taxes Redirected to Support Public Safety/Parole Realignment


Handout

Parole Realignment LAO Alternative Budget Package

March 10, 2008 - Handout summarizing the LAO's proposed realignment of responsibility for supervision of low-level criminal offenders from the state parole system to county probation.


Handout

Prison Overcrowding-An Overview on Construction and Rehabilitation

February 20, 2008 - Presented to the Senate Public Safety Committee


Report

Analysis of the 2008-09 Budget Bill, Judicial and Criminal Justice Chapter

February 20, 2008 - Analysis of the 2008-09 Budget Bill, Judiciary and Criminal Justice Chapter


Report

Budget Process for Population Changes Needs More Work

February 20, 2008 - While the prison system has taken some initial steps to improve its current population budget request documents, further work is needed. We recommend several steps to improve the process used to budget for changes in the prison inmate population that will improve their accuracy, efficiency, and transparency.


Report

Implementing AB 900’s Infill Bed Plan: Progress and Concerns

February 20, 2008 - Prison officials have made some progress, but encountered some obstacles, in implementing a $7.7 billion package of prison construction projects. We raise concerns about how the estimated construction cost per bed for new infill bed facilities has nearly tripled compared to the cost of a prison built a few years ago. We recommend that the infill bed plan be revised after obtaining an independent estimate of construction costs to avoid the possibility of overspending hundreds of millions of dollars for these projects.


Report

Realignment of Parole Could Improve Public Safety and Help Address Budget Shortfall

February 20, 2008 - We propose a nearly $500 million realignment of responsibility for supervision of low-level criminal offenders from the state parole system to county probation. Funding for parole realignment would come from a reallocation of waste and water district property taxes, city Proposition 172 sales taxes, and vehicle license fees. Our plan is designed to give counties a greater stake in the success of these offenders in the community, thereby reducing their likelihood of reoffending.


Report

Administration’s Population Reduction Proposals Not Best Options

February 20, 2008 - The administration proposes to release certain inmates from prison early and place them under minimal parole supervision, a policy it terms "summary parole." We recommend alternatives offering a better tradeoff between public safety and budget savings: (1) changing crimes currently classified as "wobblers" to misdemeanors and (2) substituting an "earned discharge" program for the Governor’s summary parole proposal.


Report

Restructuring Criminal Justice Local Assistance Programs

February 20, 2008 - The Governor’s budget proposes 10 percent across-the-board reductions for criminal justice local assistance programs to achieve about $60 million in savings. We recommend instead that the Legislature achieve savings of about $270 million by eliminating or reducing General Fund support for programs that have not demonstrated results, do not serve a statewide purpose, could be consolidated, or could be funded from other sources.


Report

Specific Cost-Savings Options for the Judicial Branch

February 20, 2008 - The budget proposes an unallocated reduction of $246 million for the Judicial Branch. We recommend the Legislature adopt a savings target that is consistent with its own program and spending priorities and take specific actions. Options include suspending State Appropriations Limit adjustments, phasing in electronic court reporting, adjusting the budget for delays in the appointment of new judges, and increasing court revenues.


Report

Reforming Inmate Education to Improve Public Safety: From Cellblocks to Classrooms

February 12, 2008 - Executive Summary
According to national research, academic and vocational programs can significantly reduce the likelihood that offenders will commit new offenses and return to prison. Despite these findings, the state offers these programs to only a relatively small segment of the inmate population. Moreover, the inmate education programs that do exist suffer from a number of problems that limit their effectiveness at reducing recidivism. To improve prison education programs and public safety, we recommend several structural reforms to increase the performance, outcomes, and accountability of the existing inmate education programs, as well as ways to expand their capacity at a low cost to the state.


Report

Correctional Officer Pay, Benefits, and Labor Relations

February 7, 2008 - The administration proposes a 5 percent raise for correctional officers and legislation to allow it to impose a labor settlement on the officers’ union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA). We find that the officers’ compensation levels are sufficient to allow the prisons to meet personnel needs at the present time, but we generally agree with other administration proposals to increase management control in prisons. We note that the dysfunctional relationship between the administration and CCPOA makes it more difficult to address the many issues facing the state’s prison and personnel management systems.