Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Because providers delivering tele ‑mental health services do not have to be physically present at a prison, this means that some of the concerns that accompany being on ‑site are addressed. For example, people working remotely likely do not face the same level of safety concerns that workers on site may experience when walking through a prison and interacting with various incarcerated people.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Because providers delivering tele ‑mental health services do not have to be physically present at a prison, this means that some of the concerns that accompany being on ‑site are mitigated. For example, people working remotely likely do not face the same level of safety concerns, can have more privacy, and do not need to work in dilapidated facilities that may lack air conditioning.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - In other words, these projects do not necessarily undergo the same review as the new construction projects. For exa mple, some of these projects may not go through formal review by Department of Finance (DOF) staff that focus on capital outlay.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - The decision included the following footnote: “Because any permitting scheme can be put towards abusive ends, we do not rule out constitutional challenges to shall-issue regimes where, for example, lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry. ” This footnote suggests that there may be a point where firearm regulatory fees become unconstitutionally high.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

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

Jun 12, 2025 - In doing so, Proposition  47 changed how these crimes are handled at certain key stages of the justice system. This is because law enforcement generally has more limited authority to arrest people for misdemeanors than felonies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2024-25 Budget: Juvenile Custodial Interrogation Mandate

May 28, 2024 - Should it become clear that there are not benefits of providing youths with legal counsel at this stage of the juvenile justice process —or that the benefits of doing so do not justify the costs —the Legislature could suspend the mandate at that time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4910

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

Jan 13, 2025 - There are a handful of differences in our estimates, but these changes are small enough on net that they do not substantively change our assessment of the budget condition. Specifically, the administration has higher revenue estimates than our office, but these are mostly offset by their higher spending estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Some faculty do not feel comfortable or do not want to work inside a prison. In addition, many prisons are in rural areas of the state with relatively small pools of individuals who are qualified to teach postsecondary courses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

The 2025-26 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 12, 2025 - Additionally, the judicial branch wanted to mitigate the impacts of the reductions on court users by distributing the funding as quickly as possible and had sufficient excess TCTF expenditure authority to do so.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4959

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

Oct 24, 2025 - (These totals —and those reported below —do not reflect a portion of the adjustments related to Control Sections 4.05 and 4.12 of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets, which aimed to identify and implement efficiencies across nearly all state entities to produce ongoing budgetary savings.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5085