The Walter Smittle III Regional Responder Training Center is located in Jackson County, West Virginia, south of Ripley. In August 2024, Sheriff Ross Mellinger provided a tour of the facility, which includes a gym, office, and classrooms for police and EMT training. The center and a nearby shooting range were funded by settlements from opioid manufacturers, which agreed to pay approximately fifty billion dollars across all states and the District of Columbia, beginning in 2022 and continuing until the late 2030s. West Virginia, significantly impacted by the opioid crisis, is set to receive one billion dollars, the highest per capita amount. The county received its first allocation of just under six hundred thousand dollars, with half designated for the shooting range and an additional two hundred thousand for the training center.
Teresa Evans, a former court reporter during West Virginia's trial against opioid manufacturers, expressed concern over the spending priorities, advocating for funds to support rehabilitation rather than law enforcement. Evans and Kelly Boggess DeWees, a community advocate, have raised questions about the allocation of settlement funds, suggesting that they should be directed towards recovery initiatives.
The shooting range, costing two hundred seventy thousand dollars, is used infrequently, while the training center is utilized several times a month. Mellinger defended the investments as necessary for addressing opioid addiction, stating that effective law enforcement is essential before treatment options can be accessed.
The opioid settlement funds are designed to address the public health crisis caused by the opioid epidemic, with eighty-five percent required to be spent on opioid remediation. In West Virginia, funds will be distributed over eighteen years, with three-quarters allocated to the West Virginia First Foundation, which has received three hundred eighty million dollars to date. The foundation aims to invest the funds to generate interest for ongoing community support.
Jonathan Stoltman, from the Opioid Policy Institute, noted that the distribution of settlement funds has been slow, with significant amounts remaining unspent in various states. Some municipalities have used settlement funds for law enforcement rather than recovery programs, leading to concerns about the effectiveness of the spending. In West Virginia, local governments allocated nearly half of their opioid settlement funds to general law enforcement expenses.
During a visit to the training center, a community meeting was held where DeWees prepared a meal for attendees, highlighting the local impact of the opioid crisis and the ongoing need for support and recovery initiatives.