Scott County officials describe early success of NET device opioid treatments in county jail, discuss follow-up and funding

Scott County detention staff and a visiting program representative updated the Scott County Fiscal Court on a county-funded effort to use a wearable neuromodulation device (referred to in meeting materials as the NET device) to ease opioid withdrawal among people incarcerated at the county jail.

The county-sponsored pilot has provided 34 NET-device treatments, and 28 of those treatments are either completed or in progress, the program representative said. Detention staff said 18 people started on the device at the jail; of those, seven entered rehab after treatment, three removed the device themselves, five remain in a short-term treatment placement, and the remainder had been released or transferred. Court members praised early results but asked for continued follow-up and documentation.

Why it matters: The court used opioid-settlement money to sponsor the initial treatments. Officials framed the NET device as a way to reduce the acute physical withdrawal that often prevents people from engaging in post-release treatment; court members and jail staff said pairing the device with timely referrals to residential or outpatient rehab increases the chance of longer-term recovery.

Detention staff member Jell O'Bruill described operations at the jail and the NET-device rollout, saying the camera expansion project at the facility is finished and staffing is stable. "We had 18 participants. Three of them have taken themselves off of the NET device once they started it," O'Bruill said, adding that seven participants went on to rehab and five remained at an external treatment facility at the time of the update.

Jeff Lott, the program representative who presented data to the court, said the county funded 34 treatments and that 28 of those have been used or are currently being delivered. He described a published, peer-reviewed article on the program in Frontiers in Psychiatry (noting the paper’s Feb. 25 publication date in the meeting) and said the program has begun sharing results with other counties and detention centers interested in replicating the model. "We first started talking in summer of '23… by December we started treating at the detention center," Lott said.

Court members and staff discussed how the jail and partner agencies are following up with people after release. Jail staff said they plan outreach calls at 7, 14 and 30 days after release and have scheduled longer-term check-ins at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. "We're reaching out to them post-incarceration… 7, 14, 21, 30 days and then scheduled 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to reach out to them," O'Bruill said.

The court also discussed connections with local treatment providers. Lott said the jail refers interested participants to Isaiah House for assessment; Isaiah House then determines program fit and may place a person into residential or outpatient care or refer to alternate providers. "If they are interested in participating in rehab, we do an Isaiah House assessment immediately on them," Lott said. He added that in some cases Isaiah House has helped arrange placement with other providers when its program was not the right fit.

Funding and next steps: Lott said the program originally sought state grant money but was denied in 2023 while the device awaited FDA clearance; after FDA clearance, the county used local opioid-settlement funds to sponsor treatments. He said the program has reapplied to the state and also remains open to county or city contributions and to partnering with other local jurisdictions. "We have used 28 of the 34 treatments that you generously sponsored… at some point, we'd like you to consider perhaps sponsoring some more," he told the court.

Court members asked Lott to provide a written proposal and more detail on the post-treatment tracking plan. Judge Covington (presiding) and other court members suggested discussing future funding options at an upcoming work session.

What court members said: Magistrate Rick Hostetler, citing media coverage and follow-up from former participants, said the device had produced notable individual results and community interest. "He calls me at about 6:00 every morning. He's on his first break at his job that he starts at 4 in the morning. So he's doing well," Hostetler said of one former participant.

Operational details and caveats: Jail staff reported the NET participants are housed together in a single unit while on the device to maintain continuity of care and monitoring; staff said isolation for withdrawal can be difficult and that transfers mid-treatment generally disrupt progress. Jail staff also said the jail remains fully staffed and that some generator and infrastructure maintenance costs will appear in next year’s budget (see separate reporting in the minutes). The program’s presenters and jail staff emphasized that the NET device is one piece in a continuum of care and that referral to rehab improves the program’s long-term outcomes.

No formal court action to expand funding or to enter intergovernmental agreements occurred during the meeting. Court members asked for a written proposal and a work-session discussion next week to consider additional sponsorship or use of settlement or other funds.

Ending: Court members commended staff for the initiative and asked the presenters to supply a short written plan for tracking outcomes and for a proposal on funding so the court could consider the request at its work session.