Overdoses inside Nevada's state prisons have exploded, jumping from just 12 in 2021 to more than 120 in 2025. It's a problem that's had a domino effect, leading to rising hospitalizations and spiraling overtime rates that have cost the state millions of dollars. 

Now, correctional officers are pushing for a different answer: drug-detection dogs.

Nevada is one of the few states that does not have a canine unit in its state prison system, according to the state's correctional officers union. Such units have long been embraced as a way for prisons and law enforcement to detect drugs and conduct searches. 

Although prison officials have previously advocated for it, the state's correctional officers union, Fraternal Order of Police Nevada C.O. Lodge 21, says the proposal has garnered renewed attention as overdoses continue to rise. 

It's been brought up at recent meetings of the State Board of Prison Commissioners, and union leaders say they've met with the governor's office, which they described as interested in the idea. Gov. Joe Lombardo's office told The Indy it will continue to collaborate with the union on the idea and believes if it is adopted, K-9 searches "should be applied to all individuals at correctional facilities where K-9 units are deployed."

"The overdoses have basically given us the audience to say, 'Hey, remember when we told you about this before?,'" Paul Lunkwitz, president of FOP C.O. Lodge 21, said in an interview with The Indy. 

Supporters argue that trained dogs offer a broader approach than mail scanners, another proposal aimed at curbing the flow of contraband into prisons. They can help identify not only the drugs entering prisons but also the methods by which they are being smuggled. On top of stopping the flow of drugs, canines can also detect other contraband — most notably cellphones that officers say facilitate gang activity, drug distribution and other criminal activity inside prisons.

"Canines can be trained to detect virtually any scent," Lunkwitz said. "You can train them for multiple substances — fentanyl, bug spray and different chemicals."

Criminal justice reform advocates have rallied around the solution, especially as the Nevada Department of Corrections considers restricting individual access to physical mail — regarded by many incarcerated people as a lifeline to the outside world. Instead of letting individuals receive their mail physically, the department has proposed having it scanned and delivered electronically, eliminating the opportunity to touch a child's handmade schoolwork or a loved one's Christmas card. 

Prison officials have said mail is one of the main ways that a new type of deadly synthetic drugs has infiltrated prisons, soaked into the pages of letters and legal documents.

Nicholas Shepack, the Nevada state director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, said that a canine unit could be an effective and humane alternative to mail restrictions. Shepack argued that restricting mail unfairly places blame on families, calling a canine unit a more "holistic" response.

He added that dogs could help weed out drugs that are being snuck in through other means, including those tossed over fences or even dropped in by drones — the latter which has become a growing problem in jails nationwide, including in Nevada. It could also be cheaper than implementing mail scanners, which NDOC has said can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

"It sounds like an actual solution to the drug problem," Shepack told The Indy. "They can smell the synthetic drugs and other stuff they're having problems with." 

But the research is mixed. Some studies have found that in a controlled setting, some canines are able to successfully detect concealed drugs in about 90 percent of cases, while another report found canines are only accurate in about 45 percent of searches. Other reports have found canines can often be influenced by a handler's bias, leading to less accuracy — a factor that has been increasingly considered in canine training.

But the program, union members say, could come with little cost to the state. Lunkwitz said that officers have coordinated with the Arizona Department of Corrections to train canines and their handlers for free. They have also considered starting a nonprofit to help fund the program, funded by by soliciting donations from local casinos and businesses.

As initially proposed, it would start as a pilot program in High Desert State Prison — the state's maximum security prison and its largest, located north of Las Vegas. If successful, Lunkwitz said he would like to expand the program statewide with at least 25 dogs.

But the proposal remains in the planning stages. The Nevada Department of Corrections has not replied to The Indy about whether it supports the idea. 

Lunkwitz said he also is less sure about the ability to secure state funding for a full-fledged program from the Legislature and the state. Trained K-9s are expensive — a dog Las Vegas police purchased in 2018 cost $20,000, for example — but he remains optimistic about the proposal's future. 

"It'll have a massive impact on this," Lunkwitz said. "You're going to see overdoses go down, you're going to see gang violence go down … there's really no downside when it comes to the canine units."