Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Carroll County Board of Supervisors held a special called meeting in the Vaiden Courthouse which began at 9 a.m. While much business was covered over the nearly hour and ten minute duration of the meeting, one heated topic remained the center of attention for the majority of the time. The topic of concern was regarding the county’s Opioid Settlement Money. These funds were awarded on a national level as the result of a litigation against the pharmaceutical industry for the ongoing opioid crisis. On the county level, Carroll is awarded payouts from this lawsuit at an irregular rate. For the past few meetings, the Sheriff’s Department has requested that these funds be moved from the General Fund for the county into the Officer Safety Fund for the department. The highlights of the debate on this topic are as follows.
According to Sheriff Clint Walker, from this lawsuit Carroll County was awarded $160,000 to be paid out over the duration of a 4-5 year period. He explained that this money was awarded based on records such as those of opioid related arrests or overdoses within the county. At the current time, the total of the Opioid Settlement money is $8,700. Sheriff Walker requested that the Board consider putting the current total into the Officer Safety Fund as well as any future Opioid Settlement money that is paid out to the county. Board Clerk Casey Carpenter stated that any of the settlement money that is paid out must first be put into the General Fund for the county, however where the money goes from there is at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors. Sheriff Walker stated that any Opioid Settlement money moved into the Officer Safety Fund would be used to purchase necessary equipment for combatting opioid related overdoses and arrests in Carroll County, such as Narcan nasal spray, which is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“Our business is to fight it. As the Sheriff of the county, I’m out to get any money I can to fight it,” Sheriff Walker noted about the Opioid Crisis.
“I know y’all have supported us well through the years. But in my opinion, that Opioid money was given to go to the fight and that’s where, in my opinion, it would be best served - in the Sheriff’s Office. Whether it helps buy a vehicle or helps train a deputy,” he finished.
After the introduction of the topic, Beat 1 Supervisor Jim Neill weighed in on the conversation.
“I will say this - we support you a hundred percent. - And it’s not that I don’t think this opioid money ought to go to you. It’s the fact that last year, you [the Sheriff’s Department] were so over budget. So, we’ve got to figure out something about how we can reel that in some,” Neill replied to the request.
He went on to explain that any overage in the Sheriff’s Department budget is absorbed by the General Fund for the county. Neill stated that the main reason, he believed, for the hesitancy to award this money to the Sheriff’s Department is due to the impact of the overage on the General Fund. Following this, Neill moved on to his next point.
“The other thing too, since we’re bringing all this up and everything - that bridge that got burned up over there on sixty-four, we need to see the three men that were involved in that bridge. We asked about that before. I know that in the paper, it said that you didn’t feel like they were responsible - but it cost me and Claude [Fluker] thirty something thousand dollars. We have not yet to see those three men - don’t even know who they are,” Supervisor Neill stated.
At this point, Sheriff Walker replied to the request for information, explaining that during the investigation of this incident, which took place nearly three years ago, criminal intent could not be proven. He clarified that in order for anyone involved in the incident to be charged with a crime, the department would be required to prove criminal intent on the suspects’ part. Without criminal intent, there could be no charges or case filed against those individuals. In addition, he explained that though criminal charges could not be filed against the suspects, a civil lawsuit for the reimbursement of damages could be filed.
Following this, Sheriff Walker moved on to another point of concern on the matter of the budget. He compared the budgets of neighboring Grenada County and their coverage area to that of Carroll County. He noted that while Grenada County Sheriff' s Department has 449 square miles of coverage area and a population of 8,793 directly policed by the department, they have a budget of a little over two million dollars for their department. Meanwhile, he noted that Carroll County Sheriff’s Department has a 634 square mile coverage area and a population of 9,378 people to directly police. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Department budget is a mere $932,612 in comparison to Grenada’s. It is of note that while Grenada County as a whole has a population of nearly twenty-one thousand, the GCSO only polices a small portion of this overall population. CCSO polices the entirety of Carroll County due to none of the county’s municipalities having their own police departments at this time.
“For ten years now, if I go over - it’s ‘cause the budget is so low. I understand that we don’t have Grenada’s revenue - [But] we’re doing the same job with less people [officers] and over a million dollars less,” Sheriff Walker emphasized.
“If there’s some misspending somewhere, I want to know about it. But we pinch every penny we get. And for me to ask for money that was dedicated for people who have died in a lawsuit - people in our county, in our country - to help fight the fight on this. It’s my job as the Sheriff to fight for money for what I do. Just like your job to fight for your [districts].”
At this point, Beat 2 Supervisor Josh Hurst commented that while the entire county, including the CCSO budget appears to be behind on funding, he believes that the Sheriff’s Office is better off funding wise than the County’s road and bridge budget. Following this comment, a long discussion ensued regarding the County’s road and bridge budget in comparison to the CCSO budget.
“I appreciate everything y’all are doing, but I don’t understand why I’m having to fight this hard for money that was awarded to go to the fight,” Sheriff Walker commented.
“My statement is pretty simple: That’s what the money was for, I think that’s what it needs to go toward - back to the Sheriff Safety Fund. I know we all struggle with the money we’ve got, but still, at the end of the day there hasn’t been one time where I called the Sheriff’s Department and they [didn’t] respond to whatever, wherever in this community and Carroll County in general. We’re very fortunate to have the Sheriff’s Department we’ve got,” Beat 5 Supervisor Randy Browning stated.
Following these comments, there was another discussion of the CCSO being over budget and requiring money to be spent from the General Fund. Beat 1 Supervisor Neill stated that he was not opposed to using the opioid settlement money to combat the opioid crisis. However, he explained he had concerns about the money being moved to the CCSO fund and the General Fund still being required to absorb any over-spending.
“I’ve completed every grant, begged every department around the state - and it came to the point of us having this ugly conversation now. Yes I’m over, and I’ve been over ever since I’ve been here. But I’ll read off every county around us and they’re five hundred to a million dollars above us in the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Walker commented on the topic.
At this point, the discussion shifted to the topic of compensation for the Sheriff’s Department’s services. It was noted that both North Carrollton and Carrollton reimburse the county for the CCSO’s services on a regular basis. However, the Town of Vaiden, since losing their chief of police, has not been reimbursing the county. According to Sheriff Walker, Board Attorney Kevin Horan had written a formal letter to the Town of Vaiden from the county requesting that an agreement be struck to reimburse the Sheriff’s Department for its services, however so far the letter has gone unanswered. Sheriff Walker estimated that nearly 50-60 emergency calls originated from the Town of Vaiden on a monthly basis.
“The Sheriff’s Department is not the only one that’s hurting, it’s the general county. Not too long ago we did [the] budget, you know how it is. And it’s not that I don’t think that that opioid money is for the Sheriff’s Department, cause I do, I feel like that’s what that’s intended for. But I also feel like that money you've already received - we didn’t say it was opioid money, but when we support the Sheriff’s Department, that’s what we’re doing. It may not be earmarked, but when we put money from the general [fund] to the Sheriff’s [department fund] that’s the opioid [money],” Supervisor Josh Hurst commented.
Following these comments, Sheriff Walker made a suggestion to the Board that instead of including the current $8,700 which is in the General Fund, the Board only vote to move any subsequent dispersed funds to the CCSO budget.
“I’m not asking to pull the money that’s here out. I’m asking let’s do a vote and say from here on out the money that [we get] will go to help [the Sheriff’s Department],” Sheriff Walker suggested.
“Sheriff, I don't have any problem earmarking opioid money for the Sheriff’s Department or something medical, I think that’s where it needs to be. I don’t agree with taking opioid money to fix a bridge, I don’t believe that’s what it’s for. So I don’t have a problem with us looking at that and [making] a plan. I like to have a plan. We need to have a plan for our stuff,” Supervisor Hurst added to the conversation.
Ultimately after much discussion, the Board did not vote on the matter. However, Board members agreed to revisit the subject of moving the Opioid Settlement money at the next meeting, once the Board reconvenes.
