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

Feb 23, 2026 - Adding More Licensing Exemptions for Those Who Work at Prisons. Currently, providers with out ‑of ‑state licenses are required to obtain a California license to work in CDCR, though some may use their out ‑of ‑state license on a temporary basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Those departments may seek increases in compensation to ensure their pay remains competitive with CDCR —potentially adding still more costs to the state. Extending Licensing Exemptions to Out‑of‑State Licensed Providers State Licensing Policies Limit Pool of Potential Providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Supreme Court issued a decision in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case that found laws requiring people provide “good cause ” to carry a concealed weapon to be unconstitutional.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - Federal Court Orders State to Reduce Prison Overcrowding In November 2006, plaintiffs in the cases now known as Plata v. Newsom (involving prison medical care) and Coleman v. Newsom (involving prison mental health care) filed motions for the federal courts to convene a three ‑judge panel pursuant to the U.S.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

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

Jun 12, 2025 - Added Time for Certain Theft or Property Damage Felonies. Chapter  174 of 2024 (S B  1416 , Newman), Chapter  220 of 2024 (A B  1960 , Rivas), and Proposition  36 all added similar language to state law, which allows for increased sentences for people convicted of felonies in which the amount of property that was stolen or damaged is over $50,000,  with longer enhancement terms as the dollar amounts increase.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

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

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

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - For example, one potential funding option discussed in the report was to increase the specific fee added when individuals are convicted of criminal offenses which generates the revenue deposited into the DNA Identification Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Given that the results of the recommended data and studies have the potential to notably improve legislative decision ‑making on prison postsecondary education policy and programs moving forward, we believe the added administrative workload is warranted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

The 2023-24 Budget: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 16, 2023 - Over  time, CDCR has added nonfinancial applications to BIS that provide various other functions, such as those related to employee health and safety, armory tracking, and allegations of staff misconduct.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4686

The 2024-25 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 22, 2024 - CDCR arrived at this estimate by adding the average expenditures on testing for staff between April 2023 and September 2023 and the prison population between April 2023 and August 2023 and assuming that the department would continue spending at that monthly rate in 2024‑25 and ongoing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852