WARREN — A motion from Trumbull County Commissioner Niki Frenchko to create an opioid settlement panel to advise commissioners on how to spend money acquired through opioid crisis responsibility litigation died for a lack of a second.

The nine-member advisory panel Frenchko recommended would be composed of three people licensed to work in recovery, three people with experience prosecuting or arresting people involved in opioid trafficking and three people personally affected by opioid substance-use disorders, selected after advertising for interested applicants.

Frecnhko said the panel would handle recommendations to the commissioners for any money the county received in relation to the opioid crisis responsibility litigation.

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said the rules for how the state settlement money can be spent already are set, and without knowing how much money the county will get from the various sources of settlements, it is premature to launch a panel.

Frenchko said they already know $2 million is on the way.

Cantalamessa said the $2 million “will go” quickly, and if a bigger sum comes to the county, that would be a more appropriate time to implement an advisory panel.

He said the increased costs the county endured because of the opioid crisis affected certain departments, like Job and Family Services, the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s courts and the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office, which had to hire a forensic pathologist to keep up with the autopsies. He is the county’s highest-paid employee.

“Where do you think those funds came from? We didn’t just get more funds out of the air. They came from the general fund. So that has caused an undue disturbance on the general fund as well. We need to calculate that before we move on … We need to sit down with our auditor and calculate what we’ve lost due to (the opioid crisis),” Cantalamessa said.

Frenchko said she doesn’t want to wait to make plans because waiting too long can cause choices that lack foresight.

Cantalamessa asked what the board would do until there is more money and the commissioners should first consult the auditor about the increased costs to the coroner’s office and sheriff’s office.

“And see if they want the money first?” Frenchko asked.

Cantalamessa said they need to look at their needs before putting together a committee “willy nilly.”

They agreed the county’s mental health and recovery board should be a part of any process.

So far, through settlements reached with Giant Eagle and Rite Aid, the county will be getting $2 million, commissioners said. The amount of the Giant Eagle lawsuit wasn’t disclosed after the agreement was reached, but the agreement with Rite Aid was for $1.5 million.

More funds could be on the horizon if the joint lawsuit with Lake County, now on trial in Cleveland, leads to a monetary award. Walmart, Walgreens and CVS remain as defendants.

The area is expected to receive funds through a broader case led by the state. Ohio and numerous counties, villages, townships and cities took opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson to court. More than 50 communities in Trumbull and Mahoning counties may be awarded a portion of more than $804 million the state is expected to receive and disperse over an 18-year period.

The settlement, as announced by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost in September, states 85 percent of the money will be distributed in local jurisdictions, with 15 percent going to the state.

Thirty percent is earmarked for community recovery programs and 55 percent goes to a foundation created to disburse the money and fund programs aimed at prevention efforts that benefit Ohioans affected by opioid-use disorders, according to Yost.

That settlement is not dependent on whether or not a $26 billion national settlement Ohio signed on for comes through, as well.