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Marshall County approves $23,869 in opioid-settlement funds for locking prescription vials and disposal pouches
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved $23,869 in national opioid settlement funds for Marshall County Public Health to buy locking prescription vials and doTERRA disposal pouches for distribution and outreach; the board also adopted a related resolution transferring the funds internally.
The Marshall County Board of Supervisors voted to allocate $23,869 from national opioid settlement funds to Marshall County Public Health to purchase locking prescription medication vials and doTERRA disposal pouches and to approve a memorandum of understanding governing the program.
Jordan Gaffney, Marshall County attorney, told the board the money comes from national opioid litigation settlements and is “non taxpayer dollars.” He described the request as a follow-up to an earlier public‑health distribution program and said the funds will expand outreach and safe disposal options for residents.
Marshall County Public Health’s Sydney Gruwell demonstrated a locking prescription vial and explained how doTERRA pouches neutralize medications: users add household water, close the pouch and then may dispose of it in the trash. Gruwell said the vials accept full bottles and can accept patches, including fentanyl patches, and that staff can set a personal passcode for each vial.
The health department plans to distribute the items at outreach events, drug-take-back days and through the outreach trailer used in prior work. Gruwell said the initial order is for approximately 1,500 locking vials; vendor packaging is about 250 vials per case, with smaller packages of 50 available, and printed pamphlets in English and Spanish will accompany distribution.
Gaffney told supervisors the county’s settlement fund pool is “over half $1,000,000” (as transcribed) and that prior allocations to health programs have already been made. He also said he updated the MOU’s reporting section to require counts of doTERRA pouches and locking canisters distributed and submitted the corrected version for the record.
Supervisor Goodman moved to approve the allocation and the MOU; the motion was seconded and passed by roll call (Hibbs: Yes; Kyle: Yes; Thinman: Yes). The board then separately adopted Resolution 20250029 to authorize the internal transfer of opioid settlement funds to Marshall County Public Health and to formalize the MOU.
Next steps: the health department will proceed with procurement and outreach planning under the MOU’s reporting requirements. No dissenting votes were recorded at the meeting.
