Craig Howell AMENDED REQUEST – Capt. Kyler Ferguson, at left, of the Brooke County Sheriff's Department presented an amended funding request, on behalf of the department, to secure a share of the county's opioid settlement funds during Tuesday's county commission meeting. Also pictured are, from left, County Clerk Kim Barbetta, Commissioner Tom Diserio, and Commissioner Christina White.

WELLSBURG — Brooke County officials are hoping to begin distributions of some of the county’s opioid settlement funds in the coming weeks, while accepting an amended request for funding from the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department.

According to previous reports, Brooke County received approximately $1.1 million through opioid settlement funds derived from lawsuits involving the state and various pharmaceutical opioid producers and distributors.

Among the requests submitted was $580,000 from the sheriff’s department, originally intended for the purchase of drug test kits, digital license plate readers, body and dash cameras and an armored vehicle for the department’s Special Response Team.

During Tuesday morning’s Brooke County Commission meeting, Capt. Kyler Ferguson presented an amended version of the request.

“The sheriff’s office found the funds to buy radars,” Ferguson said, noting there also had been a change in camera vendors from Motorola to Safe Fleet. “Safe Fleet will integrate with our existing Motorola system.”

Ferguson said the new units would function as both cameras and license plate readers while also integrating with in-car laptop computers to provide a clearer video view.

“This county would be covered like never before,” he said, adding Brooke County Emergency Medical Services has discussed purchasing the same camera systems for ambulances.

Commissioner Christina White recommended commissioners begin reviewing funding requests as early as next week, beginning with the sheriff’s department proposal.

“It’s the most crucial, in my opinion,” White said.

White also requested all proposals be submitted to the Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for legal review to ensure the requests comply with the memorandum of understanding established with the West Virginia First Foundation, which governs allowable uses for the settlement funding.

“Moving forward, we make sure we’re doing it correctly,” White said.

Additional opioid settlement funding requests listed on the commission agenda include $159,784 for the Brooke County Health Department; $125,000 for WVU Medicine; at least $120,550 from EMA/EMS Assistant Deputy Director Mike Loborec; $20,000 for Easterseals; $374,015 for Empower and Link Inc.; $295,000 from EMA/EMS Director Greg Moore; $185,000 for Youth Services System; and $116,599 for the Brooke County Firefighters Association.

County Clerk Kim Barbetta told commissioners some counties, including Hancock County, have established separate memoranda of understanding with each funding recipient in addition to the statewide agreement with the West Virginia First Foundation.

Barbetta said the additional agreements could provide another layer of accountability to ensure funds are used appropriately.

The memorandum with the First Foundation — a 41-page document — outlines all acceptable uses of awarded funds.