Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Accordingly, we provide a series of recommendations that would further increase the pool of potential mental health staff by expanding existing efforts in tele ‑mental health and reducing barriers created by licensing requirements.
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

The 2026-27 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47

Feb 23, 2026 - By reducing the size of the state ’s prison population, Proposition  47 created state savings. Proposition  47 requires the Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) to annually estimate these savings and the State Controller to transfer that amount from the General Fund into a state fund created by the measure —the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (SNSF).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5108

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

Jun 12, 2025 - As discussed below, various other changes are intended to create increased capacity to detect and respond to retail crime with a focus on more sophisticated retail crime rings and people who engage in repeated and/or high ‑volume thefts.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Eventually, revenue from the $5 fee created by Chapter  591 should be sufficient to allow the DROS Special Account to support these costs. In the near term, however, we recommend that the Legislature also modify the proposal to support the initial costs of Chapter  591 with a loan from the Firearms Safety and Enforcement Special Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - Projects vary in scope and have included construction of new medical buildings that expand treatment capacity; renovation of existing buildings; and ancillary improvements at facilities, such as adding clinic workstations for staff or creating soiled and clean utility rooms for infection control.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

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 - Adding a performance component would create stronger incentive for colleges to focus on incarcerated student outcomes and provide robust support services. The Legislature could use the same three ‑component model and funding rates currently in place for most other CCC students.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

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

Feb 22, 2024 - To the extent that further capacity reductions would create challenges for CDCR in identifying appropriate housing placements, the department could consider changing housing placement policies to create more flexibility.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

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

Oct 24, 2025 - . $20  million one-time General Fund to address increased workload and to expand or establish collaborative courts in order to implement Proposition  36, which created a new court process called a “treatment-mandated felony ” for certain people who possess illegal drugs and increased punishment for various drug and theft crimes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5085