photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

The Douglas County Commission chose to allocate nearly 71% of its funding from a pool of money designated for preventing, treating, and mitigating substance use disorders on Wednesday.

Last December, several county departments and community organizations submitted 12 eligible proposals focused on housing, prevention, treatment, recovery support, and public-health responses tied to substance use.

Currently, the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund has $577,870 and the Special Alcohol Programs Fund has $254,420. Both funds have a combined balance of $832,290. All of the projects commissioners funded on Wednesday came from the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Hannah Bolton, founder of the Cardinal Housing Network, is pictured on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

Each of the funding requests were evaluated by staff with a rating scale of “high, medium and low,” using criteria including organizational stability, whether expenses were one-time in nature, compliance with legal requirements and the ability to leverage additional funding.

The County Commission decided to allocate $409,269 – almost 71% of the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund – to the following requests on Wednesday:

• Cardinal Housing Network – pay off debt on transitional housing property at 1046 New Hampshire Street: $109,631 (rated high).

• Douglas County Sheriff’s Office & local police — mental-health wellness assessment for staff: $85,100 (rated high). The original request was for $49,765, but staff from the Sheriff’s Office said the additional money would cover the cost of these services for all law enforcement agencies in the county.

• Cardinal Housing Network – 11 months of salary support for two staff positions: $51,538 (rated low, originally an ongoing request but commissioners wanted to fund it for 2026 and wait to consider it to be ongoing during 2027 budget discussions).

Cardinal Housing Network’s original request for the two positions was $101,538, but founder Hannah Bolton said money was raised to go towards those positions, and the new request was $51,538. Commissioner Karen Willey said she wanted to fund the rest of the cost for the positions to support the organization since it is a newer nonprofit in the county.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Jonathan Smith, executive director of Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, is pictured on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

• Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health & Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center – HIV and hepatitis testing for uninsured/underinsured residents at risk: $50,000 (rated low).

• County Administration, Health and Human Services — consulting support for a potential supportive housing program for unhoused women and children: $32,000 (rated high). Originally, county staff requested $48,000, but Jill Jolicoeur, assistant county administrator, said $16,000 was able to be funded from another source.

• Artists Helping the Homeless – new van and vehicle wrap: $46,000 (rated high).

• DCCCA – school-based prevention efforts: $35,000 (rated low, replaces expiring grant).

The following projects were not funded on Wednesday:

• LDCPH – youth substance-use and suicide prevention needs assessment and planning: $95,300 (rated low, noted as already funded through behavioral-health sales tax).

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Julie Branstrom, CEO of the Heartland Community Health Center, is pictured on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

• Heartland Community Health Center – additional community health worker: $50,000 (rated low, ongoing program).

• DCCCA – transitional housing support services: $37,290 (rated low).

• DCCCA – adolescent treatment services: $35,292 (rated low, ongoing request).

• Douglas County Sheriff’s Office & local police — opioid-misuse prevention media campaign: $15,000 (rated high).

In addition, commissioners said they no longer want to have two application cycles for community partners to request funding from the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund and Special Alcohol Programs Fund. Last October, commissioners approved procedures for two application cycles, one in April and one in December, with only existing county agreements eligible to apply in December. Moving forward, they said they wanted these requests to be considered during the county’s annual budget cycle with an April 15 deadline.

County staff told commissioners that maintaining two separate funding windows is “unnecessarily complex and creates avoidable administrative burden.” A memo to commissioners said the December request cycle takes place outside the county’s main budget development process, which makes it harder for the commissioners to consider those requests alongside other county funding priorities.

“I’m feeling pretty uncomfortable about making some decisions here outside of our budget cycle,” Commissioner Patrick Kelly said, adding staff is taking a lot of time and energy to analyze the requests put forward to be considered.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS:

• Deferred the vote of the county administrator executing a memorandum of understanding between the county and the city regarding 2023 and 2024 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. These grants, totaling $75,654 across both years, provide federal funding for costly law enforcement technology that local budgets typically cannot cover. The funds will be used collaboratively by the Lawrence Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.