Opioid committee set to begin grant application process

The Madison County Opioid Settlement Committee had their second meeting last week and filled the last remaining spot in the committee while also made a serious move toward using the funds.

The committee has nine spots on it with Sheriff Julian Wiser chairing the committee and the County’s Deputy Mayor/HR Director Terica Smith serving as co-chair. County Commissioners Gary Deaton, Tony Neihoff and Richard Watson are on the committee along with Health Department Director Kim Tedford, Judge Roy Morgan and Historic First Baptist Church Pastor William Watson already on the committee.

District Attorney Jody Pickens was appointed to the committee by the other eight members when they met on June 4.

The County currently has a little more than $1.1 million in the opioid settlement fund with funds set to continue to come to the County for up to 18 years via the class action settlement against large pharmaceutical companies over their role in producing the national opioid epidemic.

The committee discussed how they want to contact the state committee that was appointed by Gov. Bill Lee and ensure they know how rural West Tennessee was overlooked in the state’s first disbursement of funds in which West Tennessee got less than $10 million out of nearly $230 million, and all of that went to Shelby County.

There are four purposes for the money to be used, and all four are tied to opioids and drug abuse – education, prevention, treatment and enforcement.

The committee determined to put together a grant application process that will happen through the next few months for the first disbursement of local funds.

The committee set itself to meet in July to finalize its grant application and give 45 days for organizations to apply for grants.

The funds can’t be used for a program that already exists unless it’s expanding an already-existing program, and the funds will be awarded in Madison County.

The application period will be from July 15 through the end of August, and the committee will meet in September to review the applications for possible award determinations to be made in October.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news