Photo by Joselyn King Ohio County Chief Deputy Kent Lewis, left, and Sheriff Nelson Croft address Ohio County commissioners on Tuesday.

WHEELING — Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft wants to apply for money from West Virginia’s opioid settlement funds to address some upcoming expenses in the sheriff’s department before he asks county commissioners for the money.

Croft appeared before commissioners during their meeting Tuesday morning. He asked for permission to submit a grant to the West Virginia First Foundation for three different initiatives.

The first initiative would be to purchase equipment to outfit the department’s K-9 unit. The second would be to purchase a license plate reader system for the department, and the third would be to hire and equip peer support personnel to work with deputies.

“We found out that (Wheeling Police) Chief Shawn Schwertfeger wrote a grant to West Virginia First, and was awarded quite a substantial amount of money,” explained Melissa Marco, project director for Ohio County.

“We’ll see what happens. If they (the sheriff’s department) get denied, they can come back to you.”

West Virginia First won’t purchase a car for the county’s new K-9 unit Kronus, but the funding will cover equipment for the vehicle, she continued.

The license plate reader, meanwhile, is expected to cost the county $56,000 over the next three years. And the peer support job position will be written with a pay of $30,000 to $35,000, and be a grant-funded only position, she explained.

“If we can’t fund the position after the three-year term is over; the job would end,” Marco said. “That is exactly what the Wheeling PD is doing.”

She added there are many retired personnel with qualifications willing to take on the position either full-time or part-time.

The person hired would help out deputies on opioid calls and mental hygiene calls, Croft told commissioners.

“They would be someone better trained to handle them than the standardized deputy sheriff,” he said.