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

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 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

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

The 2024-25 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 23, 2024 - For example, as shown in Figure  3, the analysis found that a civil case which received self-help one-on-one assistance resulted in $322 in benefits and $89 in costs —resulting in net benefits of $233 per filing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4848

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

Feb 22, 2024 - As of January  17,  2024, CDCR was responsible for incarcerating a total of about 93,900   people —89 ,100  men, 4,200 women, and 600  nonbinary people. Most of these   people —about  90, 800 —are  housed in 1  of 32 prisons owned and operated by the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

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

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - An estimated $194  million was added to the state budget from 2002 ‑03 through 2006 ‑07 to address the problems identified in prison medical care. However, upon further review of the state ’s performance, the federal court found that the state had failed to comply with its orders.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

Achieving the Goals of the SB 678 County Probation Grant Program

Oct 10, 2023 - The average county award was about $1.5  million for a total allocation of $89  million. In 2012 ‑ 13 —the last year the original formula was used —the average county award was $2.4  million for a total allocation of $138  million.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4806

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - In 2018, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed Chapter  174 ( AB 2550 , Weber), adding Section 2644 of the Penal Code. This law seeks to protect females in prison from sexual assault, abuse, and other improper contact with male correctional officers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800