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

Feb 23, 2026 - If people in other states were allowed to provide tele ‑mental health services in California prisons, the state might be able to attract qualified candidates living in lower ‑cost ‑of ‑living areas with higher pay, while still allowing them to maintain their residency in other states.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - If people in other states were allowed to provide tele ‑mental health services in California prisons, the state might be able to attract qualified candidates living in lower ‑cost ‑of ‑living areas with higher pay, while still allowing them to maintain their residency in other states.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Jan 13, 2025 - We understand that while the administration indicates it will provide this payment in the future—after the final calculation of the minimum funding requirement—it also has not scored this future obligation in its multiyear budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2022-23 Budget: Governor's Proposals for CDCR Operations

Feb 8, 2022 - The NIDA Quick Screen consists of a series of scored questions about prior substance use. The total points accrued indicate whether a treatment plan needs to be developed to address an inmate’s need.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4517

Improving Parolee Substance Use Disorder Treatment Through Medi-Cal

Apr 14, 2021 - The NIDA Quick Screen consists of a series of scored questions about prior substance use. The total points accrued indicate whether a treatment plan needs to be developed to address an inmate ’s  need.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4411

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

Jun 12, 2025 - For example, in May 2021, CDCR modified its regulations to allow people with convictions for violent crimes to earn up to 33.3  percent off of their sentence (an increase from 20  percent) for maintaining good behavior.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Bruen case that found laws requiring people provide “good cause ” to carry a concealed weapon to be unconstitutional. As a result, states that want to regulate a person ’s ability to carry concealed weapons (including California) must have “shall-issue ” regulatory regimes, meaning such states are required to issue carry concealed permits to people seeking them if they meet nondiscretionary criteria.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

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

Feb 22, 2024 - People housed in higher ‑security yards live in cells, while people housed in lower ‑security yards generally live in open dormitories. In some cases, people with the same security level must still be housed separately due to safety concerns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

Promoting Equity in the Parole Hearing Process

Jan 5, 2023 - We note research on other criminal justice risk assessments that, like the CRA, involve substantial subjectivity has found that administering psychologists tend to assign higher risk scores if they believe they are working for the prosecution as opposed to the defense in a given  case.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4658

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - We envision an approach that assigns priority for courses to new students who have less than five years left on their sentences and continuing students making good progress toward their first degree.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913