Prison system seeks $40 million for drone detection and scanners but no added treatment money as overdose deaths rise

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is asking lawmakers for millions of dollars to stop drugs from getting into its prisons, but not for more drug treatment, even as overdose deaths behind bars have climbed, according to a Texas Observer review of the agency's budget request for 2028 and 2029.

The Observer counted at least 131 confirmed overdose deaths in Texas prisons in 2025, up from four in 2020. The analysis, published Thursday and republished Sunday by the San Antonio Current, comes ahead of next year's legislative session.

What the agency asked for

For rehabilitation and reentry programs, including substance use treatment, chaplaincy, reentry coordinators and sex offender treatment, the request asks only that current funding be kept in place. With inflation, the Observer noted, flat funding amounts to a cut. Those programs also face a mandated 3% spending cut across state agencies, though the department has asked that the cut be reversed.

On the enforcement side, the department is seeking about $40 million for drone detection technology and contraband screening equipment such as metal detectors, chemical testing and scanners for incoming mail, plus more staff for its contraband monitoring teams and more drug-sniffing dogs, the Observer reported.

The agency detected more than two dozen drone smuggling attempts in 2025, up from three in 2023, according to the report, though drones carry only a small share of the drugs that get in. The Observer has previously found that at least 220 department employees were charged with contraband-related crimes over six years.

What officials say

Department spokesperson Hannah Haney told the Observer the request "does reflect meaningful investments in rehabilitation" and that money was redistributed to expand substance-use education. She did not say where that shift appears in the budget, the Observer reported.

State Sen. Borris Miles told the publication that paying only for interdiction is "a misguided approach" and that the state also needs treatment and prevention. Sen. Pete Flores, the Republican who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, has said he supports both punishment and treatment and more money to keep contraband out. He did not respond to the Observer's latest request for comment.

In its own request, the agency warned that cutting education and treatment activities could hurt security by leaving prisoners idle.

Maggie Luna, executive director of the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, told the Observer that teaching people inside about what is in the drugs matters as much as classes for those who survive. "People are dying, and it is all preventable," she said.

Sources

texasobserver.org

State of Texas