Saline County to administer joint opioid-settlement grant program with City of Salina

The Saline County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 9 approved a joint agreement with the City of Salina to pool local shares of opioid-settlement funds and create a county-administered grants program for substance-use prevention, treatment and education.

County Administrator Philip Smith reviewed the background, noting that the Kansas Fights Addictions Act steers a portion of opioid-settlement funds through the state and allocates 25% to counties and cities combined; Saline County and the city of Salina expect to receive more than $1 million in combined settlement proceeds over the settlement period. Smith said those local shares must be spent on addiction prevention, treatment and related programs under the settlement terms.

Under the approved agreement the county and city will combine funds to support an annual $50,000 grant pot for local organizations working on prevention and treatment. The City of Salina will contribute $35,000 toward the $50,000 grants pool and retain about $20,000 for its internal prevention and law-enforcement needs; the county will contribute $15,000 to the grants pot and carry $15,000 for law-enforcement needs and another $15,000 for administration and program outreach. The county will administer the grant program and make awards to grantees; the city previously approved the agreement at its meeting the night before.

If the commission approved the agreement, Smith said the county would immediately seek applications for a seven-member grants-review committee (four appointees from the city and three from the county), solicit grant applications in late October or early November, and present recommendations in December with awards to begin Jan. 1, 2026.

Commissioners asked whether the county would handle grantee contracts; Smith said the county commission would enter into agreements with grantees and then bill the city for its share. Commissioner Grievous compared the process to prior federal-relief processes and asked whether lessons had been learned; Smith said the program is much smaller than ARPA and would function more like longstanding local alcohol-fund grants.

Members of the commission expressed a preference that opioid funds help expand public access to naloxone (Narcan). A motion to approve the agreement (recorded as RFA 2025-125 in the transcript) was moved and seconded and carried on a voice vote with all commissioners saying "aye."