Clay County opioid task force recommends $1.7 million plan, flags nearly $1 million in new money

The Clay County opioid settlement task force presented a spending plan to the County Commission recommending the use of roughly $1.7 million in settlement funds through 2038 for peer support, youth prevention, housing and Narcan distribution, and told commissioners on Feb. 13 that auditors have identified nearly $980,000 in additional, not-yet-budgeted settlement proceeds.

The task force, created by the commission in 2024 and chaired by Darryl Minky, director of public health for Clay County, said the plan was built to fund existing local services rather than creating new, costly infrastructure.

Minky said the group considered state and federal allowable-use guidance and local data in crafting recommendations and that "the task force has worked very hard over the last year or so, holding meetings." He outlined recommended awards to Beacon Mental Health for peer support tied to the Clay County Detention Center and funds for housing and transportation, Northland Coalition mini-grants for youth prevention programs, juvenile drug testing and education through the Office of Dispute Resolution, and up to five Narcan vending machines maintained by the Clay County Public Health Center.

The plan as presented allocated money to established local providers and included reporting requirements and quarterly audits of certain metrics, such as number of people served, recovery meetings held, and transactions for housing/transportation assistance. Minky said the original plan assumed "the original amount was over $1,700,000 through 2038." He also told commissioners the county learned of additional settlement money the morning of the presentation: "we just learned that that extra money came in or or is coming in this morning." Commissioners and staff discussed how the newly identified funds should be handled.

Commissioners questioned the plan’s duration and whether the recommended annual awards would be sustainable if future settlements produce only a small annual amount. Commissioner Carpenter asked how long the newly identified funds might extend the plan; Minky and staff answered that settlement pay schedules vary by defendant and that some companies front-load payments while others pay over many years, making the timing uncertain.

Several commissioners, including Wagner and Johnson, urged flexibility: Wagner suggested building consistency into annual awards so ongoing personnel costs could be sustained; Johnson said he wanted to avoid treating the settlement as a long-term substitute for broader funding, but supported getting dollars into the community quickly to "save lives today." Commissioners asked staff to include an option for the commission to require annual reporting and to consider keeping the volunteer task force in some advisory capacity after the plan is approved.

No formal vote was taken on the plan at the Feb. 13 meeting. Administrator staff told the commission the next steps would be to return in two weeks with an adoption item and, if approved, execute service agreements that define expected activities and reporting requirements for each provider.

The task force also recommended a reconstitution as a broader substance-abuse advisory group if commissioners wished to continue the collaborative after approving the opioid-specific plan. Minky said the group wanted to continue annual evaluations and presentations to the commission if asked.

The administrator and task force will provide a draft adoption resolution and service-agreement templates for the commission to consider in the next meeting; commissioners asked staff to report back on the newly identified settlement funds and how they would change the funding schedule.