The 2025-26 California Spending Plan

Judiciary and Criminal Justice

The 2025-26 budget provides $17.3 billion from the General Fund for judicial and criminal justice programs, including support for program operations and capital outlay projects, as shown in Figure 1. This is a decrease of $569 million, or 3 percent, below the revised 2024-25 level. This decline is largely due to reductions in General Fund spending in 2025-26, such as those made to address the state’s budget problem, as well as the expiration of limited-term funding provided in previous years. (These totals—and those reported below—do not reflect a portion of the adjustments related to Control Sections 4.05 and 4.12 of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets, which aimed to identify and implement efficiencies across nearly all state entities to produce ongoing budgetary savings. This is because the size of some of the adjustments are not yet determined. For more on these control sections, please see the forthcoming “New and Ongoing Efforts to Achieve Efficiencies” section of our post, The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions, for more information on Control Sections 4.05 and 4.12.)

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

The budget provides $13.6 billion (mostly from the General Fund) for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). This is a net decrease of $662 million (5 percent) from the revised 2024-25 level. This decrease reflects various reductions, such as those associated with anticipated operational savings, the expiration of limited-term funding provided in prior years, and the ramp up in savings from a previously authorized prison deactivation. The decrease is partially offset by various funding increases, such as for several parole rehabilitation programs and to replace fire alarm systems. (The net decrease in spending does not reflect growth in employee compensation costs in 2025-26 because such costs are accounted for elsewhere in the budget.) We identify some of the major actions taken in the 2025-26 budget process below.

Adult Correctional Population. Figure 2 shows the recent and projected changes in the prison and parole populations. As shown in the figure, the prison population is projected to decrease by about 200 (less than 1 percent) from 91,400 in 2024-25 to 91,200 in 2025-26. The parole population is projected to decrease by about 500 (1 percent) from 34,700 in 2024-25 to 34,200 in 2025-26.

Health Care. The budget includes various adjustments related to correctional health care beginning in 2025-26. Some of the major adjustments include:

• $33.6 million ongoing General Fund augmentation for contract medical services resulting from changes to the budgeting methodology for these services.

• $16.9 million one-time General Fund increase to reflect that pharmaceutical rebates will be lower than anticipated in 2025-26 under the existing pharmaceutical rebate contract. The budget package allows for this amount to be adjusted based on actual rebate receipts. The budget also provides $10.6 million ongoing General Fund from the revised 2024-25 level to fund pharmaceutical expenses through the standard biannual adjustment process. This increase largely results from the anticipated increases in prices of pharmaceuticals.

• $15.3 million net increase to implement the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal Justice-Involved initiative within CDCR. This net increase results from a $21.5 million reimbursement authority increase in 2025-26 (decreasing to $11 million by 2026-27 and ongoing) offset by a $6.2 million decrease in General Fund in 2025-26 (generally growing to an $11 million decrease by 2027-28 and ongoing).

• $13.6 million ongoing General Fund augmentation for costs associated with suicide watch workload.

• $9.5 million ongoing General Fund augmentation from the 2024-25 revised level to provide substance use disorder treatment to the prison population.

• $3 million General Fund in 2025-26 (increasing to $4.4 million in 2026-27 and ongoing) to staff the newly constructed 50-bed mental health crisis facility at the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino. As a result of the activation, the 34 unlicensed beds currently operated at CIM would be deactivated and the $16.4 million General Fund currently supporting these beds would be shifted to staff the new facility.

In addition, the budget package continues to include language—without a specific amount in the CDCR budget–that would allow the Department of Finance (DOF) to make payments from the General Fund for any fines related to staffing vacancies in the Coleman v. Newsom court case related to the provision of prison mental health care. It also includes legislation that would allow mental health professionals who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure to practice in prisons through a licensure waiver.

Rehabilitation-Related Funding. The budget provides various General Fund augmentations related to rehabilitation. Some of the major augmentations include:

• $32 million in 2025-26 (increasing to $42.9 million annually beginning in 2029-30) to adjust the budgeted amount for parole rehabilitation programs in a way that more closely aligns with inflationary cost growth.

• $20 million one time to continue the Rehabilitative Investment Grants for Healing and Transformation program that expands capacity of community-based organizations that provide in-prison programming.

• $12.9 million annually for two years to continue the Returning Home Well Program, which provides emergency transitional housing services to people on parole.

• $7.8 million in 2025-26 (increasing to $13 million annually beginning 2027-28) to staff a new learning center, establish a bachelor’s degree program, establish electrical and barbering/manicurist training programs, and make various other programmatic enhancements at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQRC).

The budget package also includes legislation renaming the California Prison Industry Authority the California Correctional Training and Rehabilitation Authority.

General Fund Solutions. The budget reflects various General Fund solutions to address the state’s budget problem, including:

• $125 million reduction in 2025-26 (growing to $635 million in 2028-29 and ongoing) that the administration expects to be identified by a consultant that will be tasked with finding operational improvements related to headquarters operations, contract management, overtime management, and healthcare. (The consultant will be selected by DOF and tasked with finding operational improvements in other departments as well.)

• $112.5 million reduction in 2026-27 (growing to $150 million in 2027-28 and ongoing) to reflect the planned deactivation of the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco by October 2026.

• $27.6 million reduction in 2026-27 (growing to $55 million in 2027-28 and ongoing) resulting from efforts to transition Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming providers to Medi-Cal’s billing system for the substance use disorder treatment services provided to people on parole supervision. This will allow a portion of the cost of these services to be covered by federal reimbursements.

• $9.5 million ongoing reduction associated with the elimination of 49 correctional officer positions that were previously dedicated to escorting condemned people at SQRC but are now no longer needed as the male condemned population is no longer concentrated at SQRC.

The budget also reflects General Fund reductions of $153.6 million in 2024-25 (growing to $184.9 million in 2026-27 and ongoing) to reflect the implementation of operational efficiencies required as part of Control Sections 4.05 and 4.12 of the 2024-25 budget. Some of the major drivers of these reductions included deactivating housing units at four prisons, eliminating staffing for gatehouses at prison entrances, and not renewing a contract related to medical parole.

Other Budget Adjustments. Other major General Fund adjustments include:

• $357.8 million reappropriation of unspent funds from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets to 2024-25 to pay for deficits in CDCR’s general security program and medical care programs. According to the administration, these deficits are primarily due to spending on lump sum retirement payouts, workers’ compensation, security staff overtime, and contract specialty medical services.

• $11.8 million increase due to modifications to the funding formula for the Community Corrections Performance Incentives Fund grant—commonly known as the SB 678 grant program—which provides county probation departments with grants to maintain or reduce the rate at which people under county felony supervision return to prison. This brings total funding for the program to an estimated $128 million in 2025-26. The future cost of the program will depend on the cost to incarcerate someone in state prison and how effectively county probation departments keep people on felony supervision out of prison.

• $33 million in 2025-26 and $35 million in 2026-27 to continue to process and pay open workers' compensation claims related to COVID-19. Additionally, the budget provides $8.5 million in 2025-26 and ongoing to pay for workers’ compensation and disability insurance claims of CDCR healthcare employees.

• $31.4 million in 2025-26 and ongoing to accommodate growth in food costs. In addition, the budget provides $5 million one time to support initial implementation of Chapter 576 of 2022 (AB 778, E. Garcia), which requires CDCR to ensure that at least 60 percent of the agricultural food products that it purchases are grown or produced in California.

Facilities. The budget provides two General Fund augmentations for facility repair and improvement projects at various prisons: (1) $37.3 million in 2025-26 and $44.2 million annually in 2026-27 and 2027-28 to replace fire alarm systems at Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran and California State Prison, Solano in Vacaville as well as fund fire watch costs at various prisons with inadequate fire alarm systems and (2) $17.6 million in 2025-26 and $20 million in 2026-27 to conduct a pilot program at three prisons to install and evaluate options to reduce indoor temperature in prisons. In addition, the budget package includes a reappropriation and repurposing of $112.8 million in funding previously designated to replace roofs at two prisons. The budget authorizes these funds to be used for roof projects at several prisons based on an updated assessment of priority as well as to repair kitchens at California State Prison, Corcoran, and Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad.

The budget also includes $13.6 million General Fund to support various capital outlay projects. This includes $11.5 million to construct new potable water wells at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe. In addition, the budget package includes legislation to modify the process for disposing of surplus CDCR properties, including deactivated prisons, to increase the likelihood that the properties can be disposed of. For example, the legislation allows proceeds of sales of CDCR properties to be used for activities—such as demolition, abatement, or conducting due diligence studies—intended to improve the likelihood of successful redevelopment.

Budget Excludes Some Major Governor’s Proposals. The budget excludes some General Fund Governor’s proposals that were subsequently withdrawn by the administration at the May Revision or rejected by the Legislature. These proposals include:

• $23.1 million one time for the construction of Americans With Disabilities Act accessibility improvements at various prisons.

• $19.8 million in 2025-26 and ongoing to establish a replacement cycle for the department’s public safety radio communications equipment.

• $12.8 million one time for COVID-19 response and mitigation-related activities, such as testing and overtime for staff.

Judicial Branch

The budget provides nearly $5.5 billion for the judicial branch in 2025-26—a net increase of $183 million (3 percent) from the revised 2024-25 level. This includes $3.2 billion from the General Fund and $499 million from the counties, with most of the remaining balance from fine, penalty, and court fee revenues. The General Fund amount is a net increase of $340 million (12 percent) from the revised 2024-25 level. This net increase is largely due to the expiration or restoration of reductions included in the 2024-25 budget, increased operational costs, and increased capital outlay costs. Funding for trial court operations is the single largest component of the judicial branch budget, accounting for nearly 74 percent of total spending. We identify some of the major actions taken in the 2025-26 budget process below.

State Court Operations. The budget provides a $6.3 million ongoing General Fund augmentation for the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal Court-Appointed Counsel Programs. This amount includes $4.4 million for increased hourly attorney compensation rates and $1.9 million to increase the amount of program office contracts by 7 percent.

Baseline Support for Trial Court Operations. The budget includes a $41.3 million ongoing General Fund augmentation to partially restore an ongoing reduction in baseline support for trial court operations originally included as part of the 2024-25 budget package. (This partial restoration was also provided in 2024-25, but was paid for using unspent monies from the Trial Court Trust Fund [TCTF] instead.) It also includes a $40 million ongoing General Fund augmentation to help address increased trial court operation costs. Finally, it includes a net $19.8 million ongoing General Fund augmentation for increased trial court health and retirement benefits. The budget package also sets aside funding to support any increases for these benefits that occur during 2025-26.

Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Program. The budget includes various adjustments to amounts provided in prior budgets to support costs for the CARE Program, which is a recently established court-based program allowing specific people to seek assistance for certain adults with severe mental illness. This includes an ongoing $1 million General Fund augmentation to support new notification requirements imposed by Chapter 640 of 2024 (SB 42, Umberg). As shown in Figure 3, this results in total judicial branch-related CARE program funding of $53.4 million annually beginning in 2025-26.

Other Notable One-Time General Fund Adjustments. The budget package also includes several other notable one-time General Fund adjustments. These include the following:

• Proposition 36 (2024). $20 million one-time General Fund to address increased workload and to expand or establish collaborative courts in order to implement Proposition 36, which created a new court process called a “treatment-mandated felony” for certain people who possess illegal drugs and increased punishment for various drug and theft crimes. The budget provides Judicial Council with discretion in allocating the funding, but requires that at least half of the funding be allocated based on each trial court’s share of 2023-24 non-traffic criminal filings. The budget also requires regular reporting on specified metrics and makes these funds available for expenditure through June 2028.

• Gambling Litigation Workload. $5 million one-time General Fund—$2.7 million in 2025-26, $1.5 million in 2026-27, and $784,000 in 2027-28—to address gambling-related litigation authorized by Chapter 860 of 2024 (SB 549, Newman).

Special Session Funding to Address Federal Actions Impacting the State. Measures approved during a legislative special session provided $15 million General Fund in 2024-25 to the judicial branch for grants to legal services providers to address federal actions that impact the state. This amount, available for use through June 2028, consists of (1) $10 million for indigent civil legal services for people likely to be impacted by potential or actual federal actions and (2) $5 million to supplement an existing contract with the California Access to Justice Commission for legal services nonprofits generally. The judicial branch is required to report on the grant awardees.

Excess Property Tax Offset. The budget includes a $214 million one-time reduction in General Fund support for trial court operations in 2025-26 in order to reflect the availability of property tax revenue in accordance with Control Section 15.45 and Section 2578 of the Education Code. Such funds are allocated by the state to support trial court operations in counties that collect more property tax than state law allows them to spend on education. This reduction is $11 million more than the revised 2024-25 level.

General Fund Operational Solutions. The budget reflects various General Fund adjustments to judicial branch operations to help address the state’s budget problem. Major adjustments include the following:

• $38 million one-time reduction in operational support in 2025-26, which is completely offset by increased funding from the unrestricted TCTF fund balance. (The unrestricted fund balance of the TCTF is the portion of the fund balance that is not set aside for particular purposes, such as emergency reserves.)

• $27.5 million one-time reversion—$14.2 million from 2023-24 and $13.3 million from 2024-25—from eliminating a two-year pilot program required by Chapter 326 of 2022 (AB 1981, Lee) to study whether greater juror compensation and mileage reimbursement increase juror diversity and participation. The budget maintains the $4.2 million ongoing General Fund provided as part of the 2023-24 budget package to support increased juror mileage and public transit reimbursements required by Chapter 326.

• $20 million ongoing reduction to the Pretrial Release Program beginning in 2024-25. (This program supports court and county costs related to conducting pretrial risk assessments, making release decisions, and supporting monitoring and other services.) This reduces the ongoing support for the program to $50 million annually. The budget also provides $15 million General Fund in 2025-26—available for expenditure through June 2028—in recognition of potential increased workload, such as from the implementation of Proposition 36. This one-time augmentation offsets the ongoing reduction in 2025-26, resulting in a net $5 million reduction in 2025-26.

• $15.8 million ongoing reduction beginning in 2024-25 to Judicial Council, the state courts, and the Habeas Corpus Resource Center to reflect the implementation of Control Section 4.05.

• $5.7 million ongoing reduction to the backfill provided to address criminal fine and fee revenue reductions due to a statewide online adjudication tool that allows lower-income people to receive reductions in the amount they owe related to infractions based on their ability to pay. (This adjustment results in a net $20 million ongoing General Fund backfill.)

Facilities. The budget provides a net $4.7 million General Fund backfill for the State Court Facilities Construction Fund (SCFCF) in 2025-26. (This backfill provides the fund with sufficient revenues to support its existing debt service, facility modification, and other facility-related expenditures.) This net amount includes a General Fund adjustment to help address the state’s budget problem—specifically a one-time $34.3 million transfer from the Court Facilities Architectural Revolving Fund to the SCFCF in order to reduce the amount of the General Fund backfill. This General Fund backfill increases to $79 million annually beginning in 2026-27. The budget also includes a $10.7 million ongoing increase in reimbursement authority for the SCFCF to allow the judicial branch to receive county payments for their share of facility utility and maintenance costs.

The budget also provides $14.9 million one-time General Fund to supplement facility modification projects that were approved in prior budgets. This amount consists of $9.5 million for the San Diego Hall of Justice and $5.4 million for approximately 22 projects to provide court users with lactation rooms in any courthouse in which a lactation room is provided for court employees. Additionally, the budget also extends the liquidation period for facility modification projects approved in prior budgets. This includes $50 million for fire and life safety system projects at the Orange County Central Justice Center and the San Diego East County Regional Center and $7.2 million for lactation room projects.

Finally, the budget includes various capital outlay adjustments. This includes the following:

• $36.4 million one-time General Fund to support four capital outlay projects. This amount consists of $31.3 million for pre-construction activities for four projects (Butte Juvenile Hall, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, and Solano) and $5 million for construction for one project (Butte Juvenile Hall).

• Reappropriation of $81.8 million in one-time General Fund monies provided in prior budgets for acquisition activities for five projects (Fresno, Los Angeles Santa Clarita, Plumas Quincy, San Luis Obispo, and Solano).

• Authorization of the sale of four judicial branch properties—Plumas/Sierra Regional Courthouse, Modesto Main Courthouse, Modesto Hall of Records, and Ceres Superior Courthouse—estimated to generate $3.4 million in revenue for deposit into the state General Fund.

To help address the state’s budget problem, the administration withdrew a January proposal in the Governor’s budget for $3 million one-time General Fund to start the new San Joaquin Tracy capital outlay project.

Department of Justice

The budget provides $1.3 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2025-26—an increase of $71 million (6 percent) from the revised 2024-25 level. This amount includes $506 million from the General Fund—a net increase of $12 million (2 percent) from the revised 2024-25 amount. (The net increase does not reflect changes in employee compensation costs in 2025-26 because such costs are accounted for elsewhere in the budget.) We identify some of the major actions taken in the 2025-26 budget process below.

Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS). The budget provides ongoing General Fund—$37 million in 2026-27, $36 million in 2027-28, and $35 million annually beginning in 2028-29—to backfill declines in criminal fine and fee revenue used to support BFS. (This is in addition to a backfill for 2025-26 that was included as part of the 2023-24 budget package, bringing the total backfill in 2025-26 to $46.1 million.) The budget authorizes the Director of DOF to augment this backfill if additional monies are needed to maintain BFS operations.

Legal Funding to Address Federal Actions Impacting the State. The Legislature provided the following augmentations to support DOJ legal workload related to federal actions impacting the state.

• Special Session Funding ($5 Million). Measures approved during a legislative special session set aside up to $25 million in 2024-25 (available for use through June 2028) for DOJ and other state department legal activities to defend the state against federal actions, to challenge federal actions generally, or to support administrative steps to mitigate the impacts of federal actions. DOJ ultimately received $5 million of this amount. DOJ is required to report regularly on how these funds are used.

• Ongoing Funding ($14.2 Million). Similarly, the budget includes $14.2 million (mainly General Fund) ongoing beginning in 2025-26 to support this workload permanently. DOJ is required to report annually on how these funds are used. (Separate from the funding for DOJ, the budget provides $3 million on an ongoing basis from various special funds to the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, and the State Water Resources Board specifically for legal activities responding to environmental actions taken by the federal government.)

• Local Grant Funding ($6 Million). The budget also includes $6 million General Fund in 2025-26 for DOJ to provide $2 million grants to the San Francisco City Attorney Office, Santa Clara County Counsel Office, and Los Angeles County Counsel Office for similar work.

Restructure of Office of General Counsel (OGC) Funding. The budget reflects a net $9.4 million ongoing General Fund reduction in support for OGC. This net reduction is completely offset by increased support from various DOJ special funds. This change reflects the restructuring of funding for the office in which 72 percent of OGC costs will be distributed across the entire department—consistent with how DOJ currently distributes its general administration costs—and a greater share of its costs will be supported by various special funds.

Firearms. The budget provides $18.9 million in 2025-26 (decreasing to $6.4 million beginning in 2027-28)—mainly from the General Fund—for firearm-related workload. This includes $11.2 million General Fund in 2025-25 to continue a project to modernize the state’s firearms systems. It also includes $3.2 million annually (mainly General Fund) to maintain funding for carry concealed weapon license workload and about $2 million annually from the General Fund for increased firearms clearance workload. The remaining funding supports the implementation of recently enacted legislation.

DOJ Databases and Technology Projects. The budget provides $16.7 million in 2025-26 (decreasing to $11.7 million annually beginning in 2027-28) from the General Fund and various special funds to support the operation and modification of existing DOJ databases and the continuation of technology projects. This includes $9.2 million in 2025-26 (decreasing to $8.9 million annually beginning in 2027-28) from the Fingerprint Fees Account to support increased background check workload. Of this amount, $5.2 million is an ongoing increase in reimbursement authority to pay the federal government to process such checks. The remaining funding supports the development of a new connection to Department of Motor Vehicle databases, implementation of new requirements related to the sealing of juvenile records, and the continuation of a technology project to manage gambling licensing workload.

Unfair Competition Law (UCL) Fund Loan. The budget includes an up to $150 million one-time, no-interest loan from the UCL Fund to the General Fund in 2025-26 to help address the state’s budget problem. (UCL revenues generally consist of the state’s share of litigation proceeds from cases related to unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices, as well as false or misleading advertising.) Repayment of this loan is required under certain circumstances, most notably if UCL funds are needed to support DOJ legal workload.

Tribal Police Pilot Program. The budget provides $5 million one-time General Fund (available for expenditure through June 2030) to establish the Tribal Police Pilot Program under the direction of DOJ and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). The program would provide certain tribal police officers of three federally recognized tribes with state peace officer authority under specific circumstances and conditions. DOJ—in coordination with POST—is required to monitor the program on an ongoing basis. DOJ is also required to report to the Legislature in July 2028 and January 2030 on the impacts of the program, operational challenges, and recommendations for the future.

Transition to Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) System. The budget provides $2.7 million in 2025-26 ($1 million General Fund and $1.6 million various special funds) and $3.2 million ($1.2 million General Fund and $2 million various special funds) to support DOJ’s initial transition to the state’s FI$Cal System.

Operation Solutions. The budget includes a $42 million reduction in 2024-25—$13.6 million General Fund and $28.4 million various special funds—to reflect the implementation of Control Section 4.05. This reduction decreases to $13.7 million in 2025-26. While the General Fund reduction is maintained, the reduction to the various special funds decreases to $83,000. The budget also includes an $18.9 million reduction in 2024-25—$4.6 million General Fund and $14.3 million various special funds—to reflect the implementation of Control Section 4.12. This reduction decreases to $4.9 million in 2025-26. While the General Fund reduction is maintained, the reduction to various special funds decreases to $318,000. Our understanding is that the administration’s intent is to work with DOJ to maintain most, if not all, of the 2024-25 reductions on an ongoing basis. This means ongoing special fund support beginning 2025-26 would be lower than the budgeted amount by tens of millions of dollars annually.

Other Criminal Justice Programs

Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC). The budget package includes legislation authorizing BSCC to (1) bring a civil action to enforce compliance with its minimum standards for the operation of juvenile detention facilities and (2) access local detention facility records as a part of carrying out its existing statutory duty to review deaths that occur in such facilities. In addition, the budget provides $8.4 million one time from the General Fund for BSCC to distribute to the nonprofit organization, Impact Justice, to support its California Justice Leaders, Menopause Project, and Homecoming Project programs.

Office of the State Public Defender (OSPD). The budget package provides $15 million one-time General Fund for grants to indigent criminal defense providers for holistic defense related activities (such as the hiring of social workers and providing specialized training). These monies are to supplement existing funding and are available for expenditure through June 2028. OSPD is required to provide a preliminary report on the use of such funding by March 1, 2026 and a final report by March 1, 2029.