The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - Trial courts have a limited ability to keep and carry over any unspent funds (also known as “reserves ”) from one fiscal year to the next. Specifically, trial courts are only allowed to carry over funds equal to 3  percent of their operating budget from the prior fiscal year under current law.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Effective September  1,  2025, the federal court suspended the authority of the Secretary of CDCR over prison mental health care and appointed a federal Receiver to take over the direct management and operation of the state ’s prison mental health system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Overall BOF Funding and General Fund Support Increased Over Past Decade. As shown in Figure  2, support for BOF has increased over the past decade from $26.6  million in 2016-17 to $70.4  million in 2025-26 —an increase of $43.8  million (or 165  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care [Publication Details]

Feb 23, 2026 - For over three decades, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has faced litigation for providing unconstitutional levels of prison mental health care, in part due to chronic vacancies among mental health staff.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5134

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Operating excess inpatient beds at this scale costs the state over $200 million each year and requires that the state maintain many mental health positions more than the projections show are necessary.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Jun 12, 2025 - A wide range of factors likely had some effect on retail theft trends over the past decade. This report focuses on changes in the criminal justice system. Below, we provide background on several notable changes in the criminal justice system —specifically Proposition  47 (2014) and pandemic ‑era changes —that could have contributed to the trends in retail theft observed over the past decade.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change [Publication Details]

Jun 12, 2025 - In this report, we provide background on trends in retail theft over the past decade, discuss some of the possible contributors to these trends, describe recent retail theft-related law changes, and outline key questions that the Legislature may want to ask as it continues to provide oversight of this issue.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5055

The 2025-26 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 12, 2025 - The amount of revenue deposited into the fund steadily declined over the past years, resulting in expenditures routinely exceeding revenues. The state contributed to this structural fund imbalance by redirecting over $1.5  billion from the fund to the General Fund or to support trial court operations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4959

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - Overall BOF Funding and General Fund Support Increased Over Past Decade. As shown in Figure  4 , support for BOF has increased over the past decade from $30.2  million in 2015 ‑16 to $62.1  million in 2024 ‑ 25 —an increase of $31.9  million (or 106  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

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

Jan 13, 2025 - For example, constitutionally required debt payments are $1.1 billion lower under the administration’s estimates and the administration scores a higher entering fund balance—largely due to over $1 billion in additional revenue accruals—in 2023‑24.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951