The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Such a report could help inform legislative decision-making on how such workload could be supported in the future. Use Framework to Inform Future Actions. The Legislature could use the DOJ framework to inform its future actions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - This would allow the state to reduce CDCR ’s mental health funding by over $200  million if all 713 currently empty beds are deactivated without resulting in adverse effects to actual staffing or mental health services available to the incarcerated population.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 23, 2026 - If this occurs, CDCR could have sufficient salary savings to pay these costs without the proposed dedicated  funding. Existence of Structural Shortfall Raises Broader Concerns. The department did not provide a detailed accounting of its structural shortfall.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - In combination, as shown in Figure  3 , it makes it likely that at least $21  billion could be needed to complete the list of 80 projects. These costs will likely continue to increase over time due to inflation and various other factors.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care [Publication Details]

Feb 23, 2026 - For over three decades, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has faced litigation for providing unconstitutional levels of prison mental health care, in part due to chronic vacancies among mental health staff.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5134