RSS feed of recent criminal justice budget and policy publications from the Legislative Analyst's Office.https://lao.ca.govCriminal JusticePresented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversighthttps://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5161https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5161Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeSenate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportationhttps://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5111https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5111Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeFor 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. In this report, we provide an overview of CDCR’s mental health system, assess ongoing efforts to address mental health vacancies as well as additional steps that could be taken to reduce vacancies, and make recommendations aimed at bolstering the state’s ability to recruit and retain sufficient mental health staff.https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5134https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5134Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeThis brief provides our analysis of the Governor’s 2026-27 budget proposals related to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5137https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5137Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeThe 2026-27 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5108https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5108Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeIn this post, we provide an overview of the Governor's proposed 2026-27 budget for the Department of Justice and analyze several proposals to fund the department's firearm-related workload. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5118https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5118Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeThis brief provides an overview of the proposed funding for the judicial branch in 2026-27. It also analyzes the Governor’s budget proposals related to court construction and facility modification projects. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5113https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5113Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeThe 2025-26 budget provides $17.3 billion from the General Fund for judicial and criminal justice programs, including support for program operations and capital outlay projects. This is a decrease of $569 million, or 3 percent, below the revised 2024-25 level. https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5085https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5085Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeIn 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/5055https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5055Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTCriminal JusticeSenate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 On Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportationhttps://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5016https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5016Thu, 13 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT