Overview of State Correctional Population and Spending Trends [Publication Details]

Mar 18, 2026 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversight
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5161

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Overall BOF Funding and General Fund Support Increased Over Past Decade. As shown in Figure  2, support for BOF has increased over the past decade from $26.6  million in 2016-17 to $70.4  million in 2025-26 —an increase of $43.8  million (or 165  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

The 2026-27 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 23, 2026 - This reflects a $6  million increase (nearly 1  percent) from the revised 2025 ‑26 level. While this is a modest increase, Figure  7 shows that costs for mental health have increased by over $100  million since 2023 ‑24.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Improving California’s Prison Inmate Classification System

May 2, 2019 - Specifical ly, some individuals who have committed a sex offense in the past but are not committing new sex offenses eventually become less likely to commit a sex offense than an offender with no history of sexual offending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4023

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - The amount of revenue deposited into the fund steadily declined over the past years, resulting in expenditures routinely exceeding revenues. Additionally, since 2009 ‑10, nearly $1.7  billion has been transferred from the judicial branch ’s construction accounts to the General Fund or to support trial court operations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - The EHRS was developed to provide an electronic health record for each patient that would (1) be available at all prisons, (2) eliminate the need for paper files that must be transported between prisons, (3) provide real‑time data on the level of care provided, and (4) standardize and coordinate medical record entries that were previously difficult to access in the paper‑based system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change

Jun 12, 2025 - As shown in Figure  5 , prison and jail populations have decreased substantially over the past decade, particularly as a result of Proposition  47 and the pandemic ‑era changes. Specifically, the number of people incarcerated in either state prison or county jail declined by about 14,000 (7  percent) between 2014 and 2015 and by about 44,000  (22  percent) between 2019 and 2023.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The California State Bar: Considerations for a Fee Increase

Jun 26, 2019 - For example, between 2019 and 2024, the State Bar expects to spend $16. 7  m illion on IT projects. The State Bar also plans to replace IT hardware more frequently than it has in the past. For example, while the last time the State Bar replaced its desktops agencywide was in 2013, the State Bar plans to replace (or “refresh ”) its desktops every three to five years going forward.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4080

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Increase Use of CDCR Tele ‑Mental Health to Maximum Court ‑Approved Levels. We recommend directing CDCR to increase the use of tele ‑mental health up to the maximum levels approved by the court. This could attract qualified professionals who might not otherwise want to work in a prison setting, as well as allow the state to recruit from areas where there are more providers available.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47

Feb 23, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47 Estimated State Savings From Proposition  47 Background Proposition  47 (2014) Reduced Punishment for Certain Lower-Level Drug and Property Crimes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5108