Davis County outlines opioid settlement spending plan to fund body scanner, treatment and staff with $846,000 year‑one budgeted

Todd Edsinger presented a revised opioid settlement spending proposal at the Davis County Budget Committee meeting on Oct. 13, describing two broad options: a conservative endowment that would preserve principal and defer substantial spending until about 2030, or a spending plan (the 'Todd plan') that would support immediate program needs and personnel. Scott Park, the county controller, said he had modeled both approaches and that the more active spending plan would still leave roughly $4 million in the account through 2045 but could create a fiscal cliff in the 2047 timeframe if no new revenue source is found.

Edging into specifics, Todd described components intended for the first year and ongoing operations: a body scanner for the jail, naloxone (Narcan) distribution, funding for an attorney/screening position in the prosecutor’s office and pretrial stabilization services. “This covers the body scanner, the Narcan. It covers an attorney for Troy's office, the screening person that would replace the little Cathy Moore's position,” Todd said. Park’s modeling showed an $846,000 figure for the first year (including some one‑time purchases such as the body scanner) and roughly $600,000 per year ongoing, adjusted for inflation.

Commissioners discussed tradeoffs and staging hires. Park noted that staging or delaying personnel starts could save one‑time cash (he and staff estimated examples of $300,000–$426,000 in a scenario that delays positions), and several commissioners requested the controller budget the full $846,000 for 2026 but allow commissioners discretion over actual hiring timing. Park said he would budget the full amount as of Jan. 1 and let commissioners decide when to hire; legal confirmation was pending on whether the inmate benefit fund could be used to pay a reentry deputy, a cost‑sharing option being explored.

Why this matters: The plan aims to target upstream investments (treatment and reentry services) to reduce downstream criminal‑justice costs; commissioners debated the pace of spending, lifecycle costs for equipment (the body scanner has recurring maintenance and a replacement cycle), and whether some items should be funded from inmate benefit funds or other sources.

Next steps: Park will include the opioid plan funding in the tentative budget and circulate the draft. Commissioners and legal staff will confirm allowable uses of the inmate benefit fund and agree on timing for hiring and equipment purchases.