JOHN COFFELTContributor

The Coffee County Commission formed an Opioid Abatement Committee to disperse funds the county will receive from suits against pharmaceutical manufactures, prescribers and retailers that were involved in an opioid epidemic suit.

The committee will designate recipients for the funds that must be used to address the epidemic. It consists of five members appointed by the County Mayor and confirmed by the County Commission for staggered terms. One member will be a member of the County Commission, one from the law enforcement community, one from local education and one from health care.

Named to the committee for the inaugural terms are Manchester City Schools Director of School Heath Leslie Brasfield, Judge Robert Carter, Unity Hospital CEO Martha Henley, Public Defender Investigator Lee Nettles and Commissioner Rose Ann Smith.

Coffee County is projected to receive nearly one million dollars from lawsuits won by the State of Tennessee.