Jim Crocker asks board to let opioid-settlement dollars fund five-year sheriff staffing study

Jim Crocker asked the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to let the county use opioid settlement funds to pay for an independent staff study that would produce a five-year staffing plan for the sheriff’s department.

“I’m looking to access opioid settlement funds,” Crocker said, outlining that the National Policing Institute and other outside groups can conduct comprehensive staffing analyses that review calls for service, current staffing levels and community canvassing. Crocker said the study would not automatically lock the county into hiring recommendations but would provide an independent plan to guide future budget seasons.

Supervisors pressed Crocker and county staff on whether the settlement schedules authorize using funds for a department-wide study rather than direct treatment and prevention programs. Chair Don Smucker said the allocation rules “have to be spent specifically on treatment or prevention of opioid problems” and that it would be difficult to justify a whole-department staffing study without a clear link to treatment or prevention outcomes.

Board members asked staff to research examples (Crocker cited Scott County and work by the National Policing Institute) and requested the auditor’s office and county attorney confirm allowable uses. The board did not approve funding at the meeting and asked Crocker and staff to return with clarified scope and examples at a future session.