Utah

Utah counties are spending opioid settlement cash on policing. Is that the best use?

Published

11 months ago

March 27, 2025

Utah counties are spending opioid settlement cash on policing. Is that the best use?

The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KUER and the Daily Herald.

Firearms, ballistic vests, breathalyzers, police vehicles, wages for law enforcement officers — these are some of the ways counties are using the money they received to combat the opioid crisis.

Utah counties have taken a combined $56 million from national legal settlements, with additional money expected in coming years.

Only a small portion of the money has been spent, but the uses are almost as diverse as the counties themselves, ranging from housing and wellness programs to treatment for inmates and Naloxone.

A handful of counties — namely Salt Lake, Utah and Sevier — have also prioritized some of their funds for law enforcement, according to public records obtained by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project.

Some experts worry pumping more money into traditional policing isn’t effective. Brandon del Pozo, a retired police chief and Brown University professor who studies the intersection of law enforcement and public health, said many of those traditional tactics have either not worked or made situations worse.

“To say we’re just going to do those things harder and with more funding might not be the best use of funds,” he said. “It definitely makes sense to invest in policing responses to the opioid crisis — but it’s not like if we just enforce that much harder or that much more vigorously or with that many more weapons or vehicles that we could have stopped this from happening.”

‘A really important role’

Law enforcement officers have been on the front lines of the opioid crisis for decades. They’re the first to respond to countless overdoses and are often tasked with handling the consequences of substance misuse.

Not all police responses to the opioid crisis, however, are created equal. Research suggests that some tactics have exacerbated the problem.

A 2023 study, for example, found police seizures were associated with an increase in overdoses in nearby areas. A Canadian study found that increased policing often discouraged those with addiction from accessing life-saving services like supervised consumption, also known as overdose prevention sites. Previous negative interactions with police can also discourage individuals from calling 911 in the case of an overdose. And a 2022 study from Penn State College of Medicine found that traditional policing was associated with a risk of future overdose deaths and did not reduce future arrests or jail time.

“Traditional criminal justice pathways of arrest, prosecution, and incarceration with enforced abstinence have not been effective in slowing the opioid epidemic,” reads the 2022 study.

Del Pozo stressed, though, that cutting out law enforcement entirely won’t solve the opioid crisis. Instead, it’s a matter of homing in on more effective tactics, like training officers on the science of addiction and creating bridges between the criminal justice system and treatment.

“Police in the United States have a really important role in the overdose crisis,” del Pozo said. “Treatment is a form of crime reduction. And as police grow to understand that, they see a lot of these alternatives to just ‘the business as usual’ policing as more feasible.”

Every interaction police have with someone experiencing addiction is a chance to link that person with treatment and recovery options, said del Pozo.

A holistic approach?

Officials in Salt Lake and Utah counties – the two largest in the state – opted to fund a variety of programs beyond law enforcement.

On the other hand, while Sevier County has spent just 18% of its settlement funds so far, all of that $72,000 has been allocated to the Sheriff’s Office. The county does not track the funds once they’ve been transferred into the sheriff’s budget, and Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said he hadn’t previously tracked the funds in one place prior to a request from the Utah Investigative Journalism Project.

A spreadsheet Curtis compiled shows expenses between July 2023 and June 2024 mostly went to wages for deputies assigned to drug court and pretrial services, with smaller portions spent on training, Naloxone and drug testing supplies. Curtis noted the data “did not include the cost of any of the equipment the employees use as it is not as easily broken down.”

Salt Lake County has used its opioid money to award several grants for projects like expanding a recovery center, hiring a health data specialist to collect and analyze opioid-related data and kickstarting a substance use program for pregnant and postpartum mothers.

“We’re looking at the full spectrum,“ said Kelly Colopy, the county’s Human Services director.

The second largest of the grants the county approved went to fund two sheriff officer positions to work in partnership with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force. That grant was $780,000, or 18%, of the county’s approved settlement budget. The county also gave the Sheriff’s Office a smaller grant of $46,000 to expand treatment in the jail.

A letter of understanding for the county’s grant to fund DEA officers states their duties include providing agencies with technical assistance and training relating to opioid trends and overdose death investigations.

Colopy said the officers’ focus is not on cracking down on crime but on training, partnership building and regional coordination. Documents the county provided in response to a records request did not include any breakdown of how the grant money has been used, but Colopy said the grant only covers the officers’ salaries.

Although Utah County’s opioid overdose rate is lower than the state average, county administrator Ezra Nair said the impact is much larger than most people realize.

“Unfortunately, the needs are going to continue for the foreseeable future. This isn’t like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just pay you a billion dollars, and the opioid problem is gone,’” Nair said. “This is now completely integrated in our communities. It is a problem that affects all facets of our society and our county government.”

The county allocated nearly half of its settlement funds to Wasatch Behavioral Health — far more than any other department. Smaller portions went to the health department and to funding a nurse focused on opioid treatment in the jail. Previous reporting by The Investigative Project shows the county did not have medically-assisted treatment for opioid addiction using methadone available in the jail, although it did provide some medications to help with withdrawal. Methadone use is still limited in the jail, but county spokesperson Richard Piatt said the jail nurse can and does administer it.

Twelve percent of the county’s opioid spending went to the Sheriff’s Office. It was used to bolster the probation program, training, funding undercover positions and equipping officers with Naloxone, according to spokesperson Sgt. Raymond Ormond.

An analysis of the county’s opioid settlement records found the Sheriff’s Office spent $414,091 on officers’ wages and benefits, $186,245 on police vehicles, $24,672 on police equipment like ballistic vests, firearm optic sights and radios, $2,800 on uniforms and $2,568 on firearms.

Utah County officials said those purchases went directly to the officer positions funded by the settlement money and that any equipment replacements would come out of the county’s general fund.

“To be able to have those positions, we’ve got to have the equipment,” Ormond said. “Those positions are ones that are, especially our task force positions, are a dangerous position … that’s the unfortunate aspect of our job as law enforcement, is we do need those tools, that equipment and that training.”

Ormond understands where critics of traditional policing are coming from, especially as someone who’s seen both overdoses and opioid addictions firsthand among family members. It’s one of the reasons he got into law enforcement two decades ago.

“I wish there was a way that we could convince people to not use drugs, if the world didn’t need cops, I’d be all for it,” he said. “But (by) the same token, until we can get to that point as a community, we’re going to need law enforcement that’s going to have to try to combat the drugs.”

Del Pozo said while officers need to be prepared, more investment in policing misses the mark.

“The idea of using opioid settlement money to buy tactical gear and weapons doesn’t seem like it’s in the spirit of what’s going to reduce the overdose crisis in America,” he said.

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Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration

Published

4 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration

SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.

In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.

The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.

The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.

Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.

Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.

If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.

–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful

The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.

As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.

“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.

Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.

“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.

Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.

“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.

If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.

–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland

Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.

“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.

The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Published

16 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.

He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.

MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche

In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.

“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.

A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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