Butler County commissioners distributed nearly $750,000 from Butler County’s $5.7-million opioid misuse settlement fund to contractors providing recovery services while acknowledging overdose cases are on the rise.

Wednesday, July 22, commissioners approved paying:

• $393,200 to the Nonprofit Development Corporation for operation of its recovery center,

• $100,000 to Recover Empower Institute to operate its medication-assisted treatment support group program,

• $70,000 to Center for Community Resources to pay its housing coordinator and operate its reintegration apartment program,

• $50,000 to Butler County Community College to run its Hope is Dope program,

• $30,000 to Collective Health Consulting for consulting services for the Butler County Opioid Overdose Coalition.

A separate contract amendment was approved for Center for Community Resources for its work in the county’s drug treatment court program. The county will pay CCR $56,577 from the opioid settlement fund to work in the program through June 30. The cost reflects an increase of $4,488 from the previous contract.

Commissioner Kim Geyer said the public should know the commissioners have a standing committee that meets regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of the recovery service programs.

“We’ve evaluated these programs from the previous year and evaluated their effectiveness,” Geyer said.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said the county criminal justice advisory board — which is comprised of judges, attorneys from the district attorney’s and public defender offices, prison officials and service providers — also assesses the recovery programs.

He said he learned at the last advisory board meeting the county overdose rate is climbing due to a nonopioid drug.

The appearance of medetomidine, a powerful synthetic veterinary sedative, in the county was discussed at Tuesday’s county prison board meeting. At least eight inmates were taken to Butler Memorial Hospital over the July 4 weekend due to severe withdrawal from medetomidine, Warden Beau Sneddon told the board.

Opioids reversal agents like naloxone will not reverse a medetomidine overdose.

The number of overdoses is nearly double last year’s number, Boozel said.

Geyer said some people are unknowingly taking other drugs that are mixed with veterinary drugs and the results are sometimes fatal.

Leslie Osche, commissioners’ chairman, said the new drug is creating a challenge for prison healthcare and is contributing to a crisis.

“That also is why working on the recovery efforts for those who have actively determined that they want to be in recovery and continue sustaining their recovery is critical. So all of these programs are designed to do that because it’s not easy to sustain that recovery,” Osche said.

The medication-assisted treatment program, which treats county prison inmates with substance abuse issues, has about $200,000 in expenses so far this year, Osche noted.

The county began receiving opioid settlement funds from settlements and litigation with drug manufacturers and distributors for their rolls in the opioid overdose crisis two years ago and will continue receiving settlement funds for 15 years.