Riverton council discusses using opioid settlement funds and expanding treatment capacity as court struggles to connect defendants to inpatient care

Lede: Riverton leaders on Sept. 9 centered a work-session discussion on expanding addiction treatment capacity and using opioid settlement funds after municipal court and police officials described repeated arrests of the same individuals and difficulties getting people evaluated and into inpatient care.

Nut graf: City officials, the municipal prosecutor and council members described a pattern in which people arrested repeatedly for public intoxication or DUI often wait in jail for substance-abuse evaluations, struggle to secure inpatient beds and sometimes refuse help; participants urged exploring options from paying for evaluations to developing local inpatient or reentry facilities and repurposing the Job Corps building if it becomes available.

Body: Mayor Tim Hancock opened the discussion by listing steps the city has taken on public safety and saying, about opioid settlement dollars, “It's burning a hole in my pocket, frankly, but I do wanna make sure that we're deliberate in how we spend it” to maximize impact. He asked for input from city legal and court officials on how the system is functioning.

City Attorney and Prosecutor Rick Sollers described how the municipal court handles alcohol-related cases and why treatment — not jail — is the long-term solution. Sollers said the court “strives very hard to get people into treatment” and that “the biggest remedy to the alcohol problem is to get these people into some meaningful treatment.” He outlined barriers: evaluators who used to routinely enter the jail no longer do so, agencies have waiting lists for inpatient beds, and many defendants lack the financial means to pay fines or treatment costs.

Sollers described the court's current practice: judges often order substance-abuse evaluations, sometimes hold defendants in jail short-term while staff try to secure an evaluation, and may sentence defendants for longer periods while attempting to arrange inpatient admissions and transportation. He said some defendants decline offered treatment even when a bed is available, and that providing treatment while in custody has been limited by provider participation.

Council members and staff raised operational options. One councilmember suggested the city or county consider hiring a full-time evaluator at the county jail to reduce waiting time; a staff member noted multi-jurisdictional demand and staffing challenges for providers who must drive long distances to the Fremont County Jail. Another councilmember proposed exploring use of the Job Corps property, which the city may assume if it becomes vacant, as a site for inpatient or mental-health services; that speaker said an initial cost estimate to start a 30‑bed inpatient addiction facility is “between $500,000 to $700,000,” excluding building acquisition or retrofit costs.

Participants discussed existing state and regional treatment infrastructure: CWCC (the Casper-based regional provider) covers parts of the state’s inpatient system, with inpatient slots also in Sheridan, Cody and Cheyenne; the group noted Rock Springs/Southwest Wyoming has capacity as well. Officials said a state-run or DOC-run locked facility would require state involvement and substantial capital and operating funds. Sollers and others described community reentry centers (CRCs) that operate with structured rules and for which leaving can be treated as escape, a felony, whereas contempt of court carries shorter penalties.

Council members repeatedly returned to operational fixes that might be implemented locally: paying for substance-abuse evaluations to shorten jail days and capture moments when defendants are motivated for treatment; working with tribal providers such as White Buffalo Recovery Center and reservation providers who sometimes offer evaluations without cost; creating a local reentry or inpatient program in partnership with county, tribal and state partners; and forming a solutions committee to research funding and operational models.

Ending: Council members asked staff to return with follow-up options — including research on hiring in-jail evaluators, a feasibility review of Job Corps or other local facility reuse, and recommended approaches for targeted use of the opioid settlement money — and agreed to continue the conversation at future council meetings and through a proposed solutions committee.