Commissioners approve resolution to purchase Addicts Wake documentary using opioid settlement funds; ordinance for spending process given first reading

Morgan County commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the county to purchase a license for the Addicts Wake documentary series for public screenings and other educational uses as recommended by the county’s opioid task force.

County staff said the opioid task force previously presented a list of recommendations for funding from opioid settlement proceeds; the commissioners approved those recommendations at the prior meeting. Staff proposed the documentary license separately because the purchase is for a product rather than a grant to an organization. The license would be used for public showings, law enforcement training, and presentations in schools in coordination with the Kindred Foundation and the Keeley (Keely) Foundation, which staff indicated will lead distribution efforts and secure necessary insurance.

Staff also presented an ordinance (first reading) that sets internal controls for how opioid-settlement funds are processed: the commissioners would review and sign contracts and claims before the auditor’s office processes payments. Staff said these procedures mirror internal controls put in place for American Rescue Plan Act accounts following guidance from the State Board of Accounts.

Commissioners discussed a scrivener’s error in the resolution’s funding totals and corrected placeholder zeros in the draft language during debate. After correction, the resolution passed. The ordinance was accepted for first reading; commissioners later moved to suspend rules and adopt the ordinance in a single reading, and the board approved suspending the rules and adopting ordinance number 2025-6 in one reading by majority vote.