County attorney urges using $7 million opioid settlement for public-safety and treatment; commissioners favor budget-process review

At a Davis County Commission work session on Aug. 26, County Attorney Troy Rellings urged the commission to move about $7 million now sitting in an opioid-settlement account into the county general fund so it can be spent on programs and services allowed under the settlement agreement, including sheriff's office, county attorney, public defenders, pretrial services and behavioral-health services.

Rellings described the situation as urgent for his office and for public safety, saying the county was coerced into earlier settlements and that a 2023 state statute has limited county flexibility to spend settlement proceeds. “It's absurd. It's obscene,” Rellings said of the statutory constraints, and he urged the commission to authorize spending, arguing the funds are already in the county coffers and could help cover staffing and program needs.

Commissioners and staff discussed legal and political risk. Several speakers — including Rellings, the county attorney's office staff and other department heads — said the settlement agreement itself allows multiple categories of spending (Rellings referenced “eight things” enumerated in the settlement), but the 2023 statute has imposed additional requirements that have led most counties to hold funds in place.

Staff described concrete proposals that county offices are finalizing for the budget process. Examples mentioned in the meeting included:

- A new rehabilitation services division in the county attorney's office to centralize diversion and specialty-court work; that division would house specialty courts and a division chief position.

- One-time purchases and equipment for the jail: officials cited roughly $200,000 for a body scanner to detect contraband and $25,000 for naloxone (Narcan) or similar opioid-reversal supplies distributed in correctional settings.

- Funding for forensic social workers and dedicated staff to create formalized “warm handoffs” at release from jail to treatment providers.

- Partial funding for attorneys assigned to drug and mental-health courts (prosecutors and defenders), with staff discussing allocating a percentage of salaries and benefits tied to time spent in specialty court work.

Several participants voiced concern about the county's broader fiscal position and the timing of hires. Rellings said some prosecutor positions are being held open because the office fears layoffs if the county needs to reduce staff later; commissioners urged balancing the urgency of filling key posts with the budget committee's broader review. Scott Park, county controller, said the county could present the opioid spending proposals during the budget process and warned the commission to consider the county's overall general-fund shortfall.

Although commissioners and department leaders expressed strong support for quickly implementing programs that clearly fit the settlement and statute, they agreed to take the proposals through the regular budget and committee review so the final allocation method and reporting/compliance structure are clear. No formal vote was taken at the work session on transferring the $7 million.