 - The Fremont County Commission approved a budget transfer this week authorizing the use of more than $300,000 in national opioid settlement funding locally.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The Fremont County Commission approved a budget transfer this week authorizing the use of more than $300,000 in national opioid settlement funding locally.
More than half of the total – $164,250 – will go to the Volunteers of America/Center of Hope for opioid treatment services, while the remainder – $137,980 – will support the purchase of two drug detection canines for the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.
Drug detection
The police dogs will be trained in both drug detection and tracking, according to the initial proposal that the Fremont County Opioid Workgroup presented to the commission Nov. 18.
Those tracking abilities will come in handy when suspects flee from police and attempt to hide in areas that are difficult or unsafe for deputies to access, FCSO Lt. Kevin Rieman explained.
Because the canines will serve a dual purpose, the FCSO has agreed to cover some expenses related to their purchase, including employee costs for the officers who will handle the canines, vehicle maintenance, and fuel, Rieman said during a Dec. 16 follow-up meeting with the commission.
Fremont County Prevention Coordinator Tauna Groomsmith projected those FCSO expenses would amount to almost $195,500 per year.
The opioid settlement money will cover training for the canines and their handlers, travel expenses for the training, room and board for the training, the handler per diem for the training, equipment for the service dogs, the purchase of a new vehicle for one of the canine units, and ongoing yearly expenses for the dogs, Groomsmith said, noting that the FCSO already has some inventory that was used for its previous drug detection canine, which recently retired.
Center of Hope
The funding for the Volunteers of America will designate two beds at the Center of Hope for opioid relief services for one year, VOA Northern Rockies Vice President of Residential Services Heidi McNeil said during another commission meeting last month.
The Center of Hope facility in Riverton can accommodate a total of 21 clients, she explained, and currently, six beds are set aside for social detoxification, 11 are for substance abuse treatment, and two are supported by the Northern Arapaho Tribe for social detoxification, leaving two beds that “are currently not accounted for through any other contractual agreement.”
“(Those) are the beds that I am requesting the funding for to provide opioid relief services,” McNeil said.
Those services include daily group meetings, peer specialist training, and access to community programs and healthcare, she continued, noting that the success rate for clients at the Center of Hope is 81 percent – about 10 percent higher than the national average.
“It’s a very wonderful program that helps community members,” Commissioner Clarence Thomas said. “This facility works to provide service and care along (with) understanding and empathy. … A lot of good people go through. A lot of good people are helped.”
The Center of Hope provided care to 85 patients over the past two years, McNeil said.
In 2024, 38 of those clients were diagnosed with opioid use disorder, she added.
That number increased to 47 patients with opioid use disorder in 2025 – the same year the Coroner Erin Ivie reported “a huge increase in opioid-related deaths in Fremont County,” McNeil noted.
“Eighteen deaths were reported linked to opioid use between January and October of 2025,” McNeil said.
She also pointed to studies showing high rates of opioid-related hospital visits in Fremont County.
“It used to be we were always saying we were worried about alcohol,” Thomas said. “That’s not the case anymore. We are … worried about opiates.”
Eagles Hope
The commission plans to consider another transfer of opioid settlement funds next week, this time to support Eagles Hope Transitions in Riverton.
The nonprofit organization offers housing, peer support services, community navigators, case management, and connections to community-based services, Groomsmith said, and in 2025, they served a total of 60 people, including nine with “verifiable opioid use disorder.”
The $12,000 request for funding from Fremont County’s opioid settlement account would cover lodging and wraparound services for one family unit and one individual unit at Eagles Hope for one year, Groomsmith said.
For more information, email the Fremont County Opioid Workgroup at FCOWG@fremontcountywy.gov.