Texas Prisons Outlaw Hardcover, Used Books for Inmates Amid Narcotics Uptick

A few hundred books that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice claims were soaked in narcotics have triggered a crackdown on literature entering TDCJ facilities. 

April is the first month during which hardcover and used books cannot be donated or mailed to inmates in the Texas correctional system, a policy announced at the end of February this year. According to a TDCJ bulletin, the policy change was inspired by “a rise in contraband” being smuggled into prisons through books. 

In an emailed statement, TDCJ spokesperson Amanda Hernandez said that in 2025, officers identified 385 books containing narcotics in facility mailrooms. “From religious books to classics,” Hernandez said, there has been a “relentless” effort to beat security measures, and that limitations with “scanning technology” mean it is impossible to know how many contaminated books may have been unidentified. 

The agency provided the Houston-based news outlet Chron with photos of three books that it says were sprayed with or soaked in the hallucinogenic drug PCP. Hernandez did not answer the Observer’s question about how many books entered TDCJ facilities in total in 2025. 

Still, 385 instances of confirmed contraband represent a fraction of the number of books — and, for that matter, drugs — actually entering Texas’ correctional facilities. 

“I don’t know how many more times TDCJ has to be told that the majority of the contraband, the drugs, especially, come from the staff,” Jennifer Toon, executive director of LIONESS Justice Impacted Women Alliance, told the Observer. “[Contraband can] come from family, it does come through people on the outside sending in mail or books that are laced with drugs. There certainly has been an uptick. But overall, our lived experience is that it is from the staff.” 

Two former correctional officers were arrested earlier this month for participating in a drone-driven contraband delivery scheme in East Texas, and TDCJ staff members participating in contraband smuggling is a long-recorded problem that may have been further exacerbated by the pandemic. 

One organization, Inside Books Project, claims to send 30,000 free books annually to individuals who are incarcerated in Texas. Based on that figure alone, contraband books would have accounted for just over 1% of the literature donated to or mailed into a TDCJ facility in 2025. 

The organization told Chron that around 80% of their donations will be affected by the new ban on hardcover or used books, ultimately limiting access to reading or supplemental learning materials. Program Coordinator Scott Odierno added that books donated to the organization undergo two rounds of checks to ensure compliance with TDCJ standards, and that being forced to purchase new titles will significantly limit the number of books the organization can donate. 

In a statement, Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Eric J.R. Nichols said that “as a life-long reader,” he is pained to restrict access to reading materials, but that “illegal and dangerous drugs” have led to overdose deaths, necessitating the crackdown on contraband. 

The Accessibility Problem

Toon, who was herself incarcerated for nearly two decades, said organizations like Inside Books Project are critical for individuals whose families may not be able to afford gifts like books or who may not have family members. 

In addition to kneecapping donation-based literary circulation, Toon worries that barring used books from facilities will place a greater financial burden on families who want to continue providing their loved ones with reading materials.

“When I was doing a college paper or a research project, [mailed or donated books] were supplemental materials that the Windham Library may not have had,” Toon said. “I remember getting philosophy books, many of them were old textbooks that had been donated to Inside Book Project. So I got all of those for free or from my loved ones at a very discounted used book price. … Now that’s not possible.” 

While inmates have access to prison libraries managed by the Windham School District, those books are subject to content restrictions. Just last year, The Texas Standard reported that books like The Color Purple, the Complete Guide to Photography and a Lenny Kravitz autobiography are among the more than 10,000 titles banned from TDCJ facilities. 

(Editor’s Note: One of the six reasons the TDCJ may restrict a book is for facilitating an escape, leading us to believe that Mr. Kravitz’s 1998 hit “Fly Away,” which reached No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and contains the crooning little earworm “I want to get away,” may have been used to justify the book’s blacklisting.) 

Toon noted that Windham has “made good strides” in relaxing its content restriction standards to ensure access in recent years. The Texas Standard reports that at least 100,000 titles have been approved since TDCJ reviewed its book ban policy in 2018. Inmates can also access books on digital tablets, but each book costs money, and the tablets can be prohibitively expensive. 

Tightening the Reins, Again

According to Hernandez, books, legal mail, religious mail and other “special correspondence” have tested positive for narcotics at an increasing rate since 2023, when TDCJ transitioned to a digital mail system. That policy change, too, was made in an effort to cut back on narcotic flow, Hernandez said. 

That policy meant that physical reminders of home — handwritten letters, photographs, children’s drawings — were stripped away from inmates. And with the latest policy change, Toon questions whether actual progress is being made. She said she feels the “core problem” of substance use and staff members being willing to bring contraband into TDCJ facilities isn’t addressed by the mail policy change or the book policy change.

Ultimately, though, the ban on hardcover and used books doesn’t rise to the level of the other challenges criminal justice advocates are fighting. 

One major priority has been the ongoing federal lawsuit that may force TDCJ to install air conditioning across its facilities. During the last legislative session, LIONESS Justice Impacted Women Alliance advocated for a state law that ensures that access to higher education is overseen by the Windham School District. With those issues top of mind, stricter requirements for books are just another “burden” on inmates and their families, Toon said. 

“Yes, people still have access to books,” Toon said. “It’s almost a resigned [feeling]. The restrictions around mail and books — slowly the heat has been turned up, so people are just kind of resigned.”