Klamath County approves $35,000 from opioid settlement for officer wellness screenings

Klamath County commissioners voted May 5 to allocate $35,000 from the county’s opioid‑settlement funds to pay for wellness screenings for the county’s police officers.

Sergeant Tyler Young, a patrol sergeant and wellness coordinator with the Clamoth Falls Police Department, asked the board to pay for Sigma Tactical Wellness screenings for sworn personnel. “The amount of opioid overdoses that I personally responded to, it's countless,” Young said, arguing that repeated overdose responses and the stress of that work raise officers’ risk of serious cardiac events. He said the Sigma screening costs about $924 per officer and that the department would like funding to cover 36 sworn officers; the program’s screening, he said, is tailored to law‑enforcement exposures.

A commissioner noted the city had deferred its opioid settlement share to the county and moved to allot $35,000 to the police department for the Sigma Tactical Wellness program. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; commissioners present signified “I” and the chair declared the motion passed.

Why it matters: presenters and commissioners framed the request as preventive health and cost‑saving — stating that avoiding even a single on‑ or off‑duty cardiac event could justify the screening investment. The board relied on opioid‑settlement funds, which several speakers said the county receives in place of the city’s direct allocation.

What happens next: Sergeant Young said he would follow up by emailing the board with program details and next steps for scheduling. The board did not attach additional conditions in the recorded exchange.

Provenance: discussion and motion appear in the meeting transcript beginning with Sergeant Young’s presentation and concluding with the motion and voice vote in the segments covering that agenda item.