Shelby County board approves coroner appointment, opioid grants and rescue‑squad resolution; tables ADP payroll contract

Shelby County Board members on Jan. 9, 2025 approved a slate of appointments and funding requests, including two awards from the county’s opioid settlement fund, accepted several highway bid awards and adopted a resolution establishing a Shelby County Rescue Squad. The board also voted to seek an outside vendor to perform county payroll functions by Jan. 31, 2025, then tabled action on a specific contract with ADP while staff and vendors continue technical work.

The votes followed lengthy public presentations and discussion. Natalie Inman, coordinator of the substance‑abuse department for Shelby County Community Services, asked the board to approve $15,561 from opioid settlement money to support treatment, prevention and criminal‑justice outreach. “The funds that are obtained through the Illinois Opioid Allocation Agreement will allow Shelby County Community Services to better treat individuals with opioid use disorders and or co‑occurring disorders,” Inman said. The board approved that request unanimously.

The board also approved a separate request of $11,610.50 to fund Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) activities in Shelby County. ROSC representative Skyler Miller told the board the funds would support recovery materials, transportation for people in treatment, resource and hygiene kits for people exiting jail and youth prevention items for school programs. “Providing phones to individuals transitioning out of jail can be a transformative step,” Miller said. The motion passed on a roll call vote.

Why it matters: the board has budgeted settlement money and members said they wanted to…