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Public-safety committee approves 2025 opioid settlement spending plan, sends to county board
Summary
The committee voted to approve a CJCC-recommended 2025 spending plan for opioid settlement funds; discussion focused on prevention vs. recovery spending and committee members requested local overdose and death statistics to better measure outcomes.
The Sawyer County Public Safety Committee voted to approve a 2025 spending plan for opioid settlement funds developed by the county’s CJCC (Criminal Justice Coordinating Council) and human-services staff, and will forward the plan to the county board for final authorization.
The plan, as presented, directs settlement proceeds toward fentanyl and opioid awareness, naloxone distribution and training, two peer‑recovery coaches, sober activities for youth and adults, community education and jail‑based interviews and evaluation. Staff said the county has received $316,009.59 in settlement receipts to date and is projecting an additional roughly $26,046 this year; settlement payments are staggered over multiple years with total county receipts expected to exceed $1 million across the multi‑year schedule.
Committee members asked how the proposed budget addresses preventing youth access to drugs rather than only funding post‑use recovery and awareness. Committee member Mark Hellwig pressed for clearer prevention measures that reduce the flow of drugs to young people and asked what the funds would do to stop acquisition. County staff and law enforcement who spoke said prevention efforts (school and community education, awareness campaigns and partnerships) are part of the broader approach and that law enforcement efforts and cross‑agency programs also contribute; committee members asked staff to provide year‑to‑year counts of opioid‑related overdoses and deaths for local context.
"Prevention gives you a much better return than rehabilitation," the sheriff said during the discussion, urging continued emphasis on prevention programs alongside recovery services.
Human‑services staff and CJCC representatives told the committee some previously budgeted awareness activities went under budget in 2023 because state public‑health funds filled similar roles; those unspent local settlement funds were available for the current 2025 proposals. CJCC recommended the 2025 plan and the committee approved it by voice vote (motion by Jeff Haney; second by Marshall Savitsky). The committee chair called for the item to be forwarded to the county board for final approval.
Committee members asked that staff return with local overdose and drug‑death statistics before the county board vote so board members can better evaluate program effectiveness and prevention impact.
