Accountability.
AUSTIN, Texas — Drug-overdose deaths in Texas prisons rose from five in 2018 to 129 in 2025, a 2,480 percent increase that TDCJ leadership disclosed during testimony before the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier described fentanyl and other contraband as a major threat in a system holding roughly 142,000 people. Officials say drugs can enter through visitors, employees, mail, books, perimeter drops and drones. The agency recovered more than 2,000 unauthorized cellphones in 2025.
Enforcement alone is not enough
Interdiction is necessary, but public-health specialists and prisoner advocates say searches and punishment do not address addiction by themselves. Effective overdose prevention also includes evidence-based treatment, confidential access to medical care, naloxone, testing and continuity of treatment after release.
TDCJ has distributed naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, since 2022. Naloxone can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, but it must be available where overdoses occur and administered quickly. Staff and prisoners should be trained to recognize slowed breathing, unresponsiveness and blue or gray skin.
The dramatic rise also calls for transparent data. TDCJ should publish deaths and nonfatal overdoses by unit, substance, month and location; explain how cases were classified; and report how often naloxone was used successfully. Without that information, lawmakers cannot determine which interventions work.
A statewide responsibility
People in prison remain dependent on the state for medical care and physical safety. Preventing contraband and treating substance-use disorder are complementary responsibilities, not competing ones.