The 2017-18 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Mar 1, 2017 - Instead of setting money aside when employees earn the benefit over the course of their careers, the state has —until recently —paid for these benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis after employees retire.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3595

Increasing Oversight of the State Litigation Deposit Fund

Jan 28, 2021 - Litigation proceeds are deposited into the LDF in cases where the state is a party to the legal action and no other state statutes specifically provide for ( 1)  t he handling and investing of the money and ( 2)  h ow any earned interest is distributed.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4322

The 2017-18 Budget: Federal Receiver for Inmate Medical Services

Mar 3, 2017 - Correctional officers, registered nurses, and physicians are the most expensive positions used to perform suicide watch and CNAs are the least expensive. As a result of an increased number of suicide watches being completed, costs associated with suicide watch have increased significantly in recent years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3601

The 2018-19 Budget: Criminal Justice Proposals

Feb 27, 2018 - When working for IWL, inmates earn between $0.35 and $1. 00 p er hour. In addition, some IWL inmate workers participate in IWL ’s pre ‑apprenticeship program through which they earn seven weeks off of their prison sentence.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3762

The 2017-18 Budget: Department of State Hospitals (DSH)

Feb 22, 2017 - Acute Psychiatric Programs (APPs). APPs provide shorter-term, intensive treatment for inmates who show signs of a major mental illness or higher-level symptoms of a chronic mental illness. Currently, there are 372 APP beds, all of which are in state prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3578

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Recommendations Approve Fire Watch Funding. We recommend the Legislature approve the one ‑time $15.2  million General Fund proposed for fire watch. Given the important safety function these funds support and CDCR ’s inability to address these costs due to the structural shortfall, this proposal meets the high bar for additional General Fund spending that we think
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - A large portion of the General Fund support is used to support the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) enforcement teams, which seize firearms from people prohibited from owning or possessing them.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - For example, CDCR psychologists, according to the state Auditor, earn between $56 and $85 per hour —well above the average hourly rate paid in other states. According to 2023 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, California is the highest paying state for psychologists with the average hourly wage at $64 per hour, whereas psychologists nationwide earned a median of $53 per hour (21  percent less).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - The normal cost is the amount of money that actuaries determine must be set aside for the benefit employees earn today so that the contribution and any future investment returns on that contribution are sufficient to pay for the benefit after the employee retires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Judiciary and Criminal Justice

Oct 24, 2025 - . $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.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5085