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.



Letter

Disaster Assistance

January 3, 2008 - With the recent Southern California wildfires, there has been significant interest in the programs that are available to help disaster victims. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information on the programs and funds available to deal with state disasters. We provide links to more specific information, such as program eligibility and rules.


Handout

Governor's Prison Overcrowding Package Is More Balanced But Too Big

April 12, 2007 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on State Admin., General Govt., Judicial and Transportation


Report

Sex Offender Proposals Generally Consistent With New Laws, But More Detail Required

February 21, 2007 - The Governor's budget includes two proposals related to the management of sex offenders under parole supervision. We recommend approval of the proposal implementing recommendations of the High Risk Sex Offender Task Force, but find that the proposal to implement new state laws lacks important implementation details and is overbudgeted. We further recommend the creation of a in-prison sex offender treatment pilot program, funded from savings generated by our recommended technical adjustments to the Governor's proposal.


Report

The State Has Inadequately Maintained Its Major Investment in Prison Infrastructure

February 21, 2007 - The state faces a growing and costly backlog of special repair work due in part to the way the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has managed and organized the responsibilities for keeping prisons in good repair. We recommend adjustments to an administration proposal to increase spending for these purposes by $46 million, as well as further actions by the Legislature to protect the state's major investment in correctional infrastructure.


Report

Enhancing Public Safety by Increasing Parolee Employment

February 21, 2007 - Estimates are that a majority of state parolees are not regularly employed, a factor which research has shown to be linked to offending. We identify several steps the Legislature should take to increase rates of parolee employment, including targeting funding to cost-effective programs, continuing federal funding, looking outside of California for successful approaches, requiring the department to track parolee employment rates, improving the contracts for parole referral programs, and improving case management.


Report

Governor's Prison Overcrowding Package Is More Balanced But Too Big

February 21, 2007 - The Governor requests a total of $9.6 billion for a 14-part package of proposals designed primarily to address overcrowding in state prisons and county jails. While the package offered by the administration has merit, we identify a number of concerns, in particular that the package would result in a large surplus of state prison capacity and provide the wrong mix of beds. We recommend that the Legislature consider an alternative package that would also address overcrowding but result in a more limited surplus of prison beds, provide a better mix of beds, and reduce state costs.


Report

Juvenile Population Shift Warranted But Construction Funding Not Justified

February 21, 2007 - The Governor's budget proposes to shift some juvenile offenders from the state to the local level and enact a new state grant program to build county juvenile facilities. We find the juvenile institutional population shift proposed by the administration to be fundamentally sound policy, in part because the juvenile system is a generally a local responsibility. Accordingly, we recommend its approval by the Legislature with some technical modifications. However, our analysis indicates that the administration's proposal to provide $400 million in lease-revenue bond funding to build 5,000 new local juvenile beds is not justified given the current surplus of 4,000 such beds statewide.


Report

The California Prison Receivership: An Update

February 21, 2007 - The federal court appointment last year of a Receiver to take over the state's prison medical care system is already resulting in a number of actions intended to improve inmate care as well as significant uncertainties regarding the state costs and savings likely to result from his actions . Our analysis indicates that the Legislature faces uncertainties over the extent of costs and savings resulting from the actions of the Receiver. We also find that there are opportunities for legislative oversight of these major changes in the prison medical system, such as legislative hearings to better understand the fiscal and operational implications of the remedial plan that the Receiver is to submit to the federal court along with metrics to measure progress in improving inmate medical services.


Report

An Update on the Implementation of Proposition 69

February 21, 2007 - Although the Department of Justice has taken steps to reduce a backlog of samples in the Proposition 69 DNA Program, it faces difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff and an expected increase in samples in 2009 that will likely increase the backlog.


Report

Courthouse Bond Proposal Deserves Close Scrutiny

February 21, 2007 - The Governor proposes to place a $2 billion bond issue on the ballot for courthouse construction and to establish public-private partnerships to leverage additional resources for this purpose. We withhold recommendation on the bond issue pending further review, but recommend rejection of the legislation for the partnerships.


Report

Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill, Judicial and Criminal Justice Chapter

February 21, 2007 - Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill, Judiciary and Criminal Justice Chapter


Report

California’s Criminal Justice System: A Primer

January 31, 2007 - In an effort to put the current discussion of crime in California in perspective, we have prepared this report to answer several key questions, including:

  • How much crime is there in California? How has the level of crime changed over time? How does crime vary within California, and among the states?
  • Who are the victims and perpetrators of crime?
  • How does the California criminal justice system-local law enforcement, courts, and correctional agencies-deal with adult and juvenile offenders?
  • What are the characteristics of adult and juveniles under the supervision of local and state correctional agencies?
  • What are the costs of crime and the criminal justice system?
  • What are the key criminal justice issues for policymakers today?


Handout

Proposition 83: The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act: Jessica's Law

October 3, 2006 - Presented To: Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees


Handout

Prison Overcrowding and Proposed Solutions

August 18, 2006 - Presented to Special Session Committee on Correctional Policy and Fiscal Issues


Handout

Governor's Prison Expansion Proposal

August 16, 2006 - Presented to Select Committee on Prison Population Management and Capacity