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

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: 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

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

Jun 12, 2025 - 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 2025-26 Budget: Update on Implementation of New Firearm and Ammunition Tax

Feb 19, 2025 - These funds would be allocated to school districts based on their share of statewide enrollment in grades 7 to 12. The budget package also required school districts to certify by July 2029 that a certain portion of their staff who work directly with students in grades 7 to 12 have received youth behavioral health training at least once.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4970

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Figure  7 shows persistence rates for several cohorts that started their CCC education at CDCR. On average, incarcerated students have notably lower persistence rates compared with the average for CCC students.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

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 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Judiciary and Criminal Justice

Oct 24, 2025 - This amount includes $4.4  million for increased hourly attorney compensation rates and $1.9  million to increase the amount of program office contracts by 7  percent. Baseline Support for Trial Court Operations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5085

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - The  June 2024 budget package committed to a total of $28  billion in budget solutions for 2025 ‑26, which included, $12  billion in spending ‑related solutions and nearly $16  billion in all other solutions, including $5.5  billion in temporary revenue increases and a $7  billion withdrawal from the state ’s rainy day fund, the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

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

Feb 22, 2024 - Figure  7 shows that, in subsequent years, COVID ‑19 ‑related spending  has  declined  significantly. For  example,  the 2023 ‑24 Budget Act provided $97  million one ‑time from the General Fund for CDCR ’s COVID ‑19 response, of which the department estimates it will spend about  $54  million.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852