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

Feb 23, 2026 - CDCR indicates that it is attempting to achieve temporary cost savings through a variety of actions, including limiting travel, training, and overtime where possible, as well as not filling vacant positions as fast as it otherwise would.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Staff at the prison have indicated that this improves the prison ’s ability to deliver care, increases morale, and makes the prison a more desirable place  to  work. Eliminating Excess Inpatient Bed Capacity Excess Inpatient Capacity Means CDCR Trying to Fill More Vacancies and Spending More Than Necessary.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2025-26 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 12, 2025 - The judicial branch indicates that all Tracy branch facilities have been closed since 2011 due to budget constraints from the recession and the poor cond ition of the existing facilities. Because services are not currently being provided in Tracy, approval of this new construction project would effectively be expanding service back to Tracy.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4959

The 2025-26 Budget: Update on Implementation of New Firearm and Ammunition Tax

Feb 19, 2025 - In a November 2024 meeting, the Board of State and Community Corrections —which administers the CalVIP program —indicated that they expected to start the grant solicitation process for these funds in February 2025 as they anticipated receiving their first GVPSS allocations in September 2025.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4970

The 2024-25 Budget: County Probation Grants to Support Temporary Increase in the Supervision Population

Feb 20, 2024 - Moreover, the administration has not provided any data indicating that current 2011 realignment funding levels are such that cash-flow problems are likely to occur. Higher Bar for Approving New Spending Proposals Given General Fund Condition.  
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4849

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Community college administrators indicate that finding enough faculty to teach inside state prisons tends to be difficult. Some faculty do not feel comfortable or do not want to work inside a prison.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

The 2023-24 Budget: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 16, 2023 - The department indicates that it might adjust the amount it is requesting at the May Revision based on actual minute usage data. $30.7   Million General Fund to Pay Charges and Provide Information Technology (IT) Support Annually.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4686

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

Jun 12, 2025 - Absent or until such a study is completed, monitoring rates of reported shoplifting and commercial burglary can still provide a helpful indication of whether crime is declining, regardless of cause. However, we caution that the law changes themselves may cause retailers to be more likely to report crime to law enforcement and/or may cause law enforcement to be more likely (or able) to arrest and prosecute people for the affected crimes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

MOU Fiscal Analysis: Bargaining Unit 6 (Corrections)

Sep 7, 2023 - The fact that the vacancy ra te has only dropped 2  percentage points might signal a recruitment or retention problem, however, as we discuss below, there are indicators pointing the other way as well.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800

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