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Commissioners debate mental-health board, transport barriers and opioid grant opportunities tied to tribal coordination
Summary
Buffalo County commissioners discussed forming a mental health board, obstacles to committing and transporting people for evaluation on reservation lands, and pursuing state opioid-prevention grants, with staff and a judicial official outlining two transport solutions: a memorandum with the sheriff or tribe hiring sworn officers.
Commissioners set the stage to form a county mental health board next January and discussed working with tribal leaders and providers to address a continuing series of suicides and substance-related crises. A commissioner noted: "we've probably vary 2 people every **** week since March," underscoring the local urgency for prevention and treatment options.
A judicial official (identified in the transcript as Deitch) described the statutory petition and commitment process, and explained transportation is a recurring legal and logistical barrier for people on the reservation. Deitch told the board that the "first, possible solution is you guys and the tribe get together and work out some sort of a memorandum with the sheriff's office to basically allow for the transport of Native Americans off the reservation for mental health care by the sheriff's office." He also described an alternative: the tribe could put certified law‑enforcement officers on tribal payroll to carry the authority to detain and transport for evaluations.
Participants noted that Indian Health Service and tribal resources sometimes cover transportation costs but that medical testing and telemedicine requirements (for example, lab work needed to validate certain evaluations) have forced more referrals to Sanford and other off-reservation providers. Commissioners discussed the frequent failure of follow-through in commitment cases and the administrative burden when multiple evaluations and telemedicine steps result in patients being released rather than admitted.
Separately, commissioners raised the opportunity to apply for state opioid-prevention grants that remain available; a commissioner estimated substantial unspent statewide funds and urged using district resources to pursue prevention programs.
No formal vote was recorded. Commissioners asked staff to pursue a coordinated approach with tribal leaders and to return with proposals for the mental health board, options for transport agreements, and possible opioid grant applications.
