Morris County

Summary

Morris County manages its own opioid settlement share and the shares that Morris Township, Denville and Lincoln Park assigned to it. The money must go to the abatement uses the national settlements list, or to documented evidence-based programs that address the epidemic. It must add to local spending, not replace it.

The County's settlement account, 02-213-41-860280-392, shows 878,104.96 spent from 06/12/2024 through 08/30/2026. Most of it went to providers under County contracts: Prevention Is Key for naloxone boxes, naloxone vending machines and harm reduction, NewBridge and NourishNJ for case management, Homeless Solutions for shelter beds, Milestone House for recovery housing and Big Brothers Big Sisters for mentoring. This project classifies 522,916.36 as conforming, 35,035.99 as non-conforming and 320,152.61 as unverified. A payment is unverified where no contract, invoice or purchase order in the record shows what the service had to do with opioids.

Read the County's findings.

What the County told the State

The reports also certify interest of 97,496.98 for FY2024, 150,261.47 for FY2025 and 175,686.34 for FY2026.

The spending figures

The FY2024 report certifies 10,270.00 spent. The account made one payment in that year, 10,270.00 to the Mental Health Association for Hope One staff on 06/12/2024. The FY2023 report certifies nothing spent, and the account shows no earlier payment. FY2024 spending figure matches the County's books.

The FY2025 report certifies 438,768.01. The account paid 421,847.14 in 29 checks in that year and took a 16,920.87 journal for the salary and fringe of a Sheriff's Office social case worker assigned to Hope One. Every one of the eight program figures equals the payments to its provider. FY2025 spending figure matches the County's books.

The FY2026 report certifies 418,006.95. The account paid 396,527.75 in that year and took two more Hope One payroll journals, 12,658.51 on 08/07/2025 and 8,820.69 on 12/16/2025. Every one of the seven program figures again equals the payments to its provider. FY2026 spending figure matches the County's books.

The unspent figures

The FY2024 report says the County had 3,365,111.43 of unspent and uncommitted money on hand. The same page says the County had received 3,225,255.89 since 2022, interest included. The unspent figure is 139,855.54 more than everything received, before any spending or commitment. The settlement account balance at 06/30/2024 was 2,439,100.89. The 3,365,111.43 is the balance printed on 08/29/2024, after 926,010.54 of later insertions. FY2024 unspent figure tops all money the County received.

The FY2025 and FY2026 unspent figures are the settlement account balance. That balance counts only money the County had appropriated to the account. It leaves out money the same reports count as received.

In FY2025 the money left out is the certified interest of 97,496.98 and 150,261.47 and 315,245.37 appropriated on 07/10/2025. In FY2026 it is the certified interest of 97,496.98, 150,261.47 and 175,686.34 and Janssen Payment #6, 50,448.11, received 06/29/2026. The interest appears on no account the County produced. FY2025 unspent figure leaves out 563,003.82 received. Unspent figure leaves out 473,892.90 the County received.

The committed figures

Question 7 asks how much is appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent. The County's provider contracts stay open on the settlement account until they are paid or cancelled.

The FY2025 report's own program pages list 47,074.00 encumbered for NourishNJ and Safety First alone. No contract or purchase order combination produces 40,809.84. The FY2026 report sets aside the full 541,011.09 to reach its unspent figure, then lists 118,682.55 as committed. FY2026 committed figure omits 422,328.54 of open contracts. FY2025 committed figure omits 377,504.00 of open contracts.

Hope One

Hope One Mobile Outreach is a County program run through the Sheriff's Office. The County reported it to the State as outreach that connects people with substance use disorder to treatment, with naloxone kits, wound care and fentanyl test strips. Its contracts pay Mental Health Association outreach staff, a quarterly evaluation by Epiphany Community Services and a peer recovery specialist from Prevention Is Key. This project classifies those payments as conforming.

The same contracts paid for these, and the County certified each one inside its Hope One figure.

Emergency vehicle lighting, vehicle graphics, tote bags and apparel are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Outreach program paid for purple grille lights and a wrap. Outreach program paid for tote bags and North Face jackets.

The County describes Hope One as giving out wound care supplies, so the first aid kits stay unverified. A vehicle for a mobile outreach unit is arguable under Exhibit E. The County's vendor history shows it bought another 2024 Chrysler Pacifica from the same dealer for the same 47,351.85 on 09/25/2024. The County blacked out the account column, so the record does not show which fund paid for that one. The payroll journals moved pay already issued onto the settlement account after the pay periods ran. The County's emails in the journal file say the case workers were assigned to Hope One. The salary appropriation history that would show whether settlement money replaced salary the County already carried was not produced.

More giveaway orders were open on 08/30/2026: fidget highlighters for 2,702.98, North Face jackets for 1,311.72 and first aid kits for 2,430.70.

The vendor histories also show County payments for Hope One staffing and naloxone kits from 2018 to 2022, before the settlement money arrived. The account column is blacked out on every page, so they do not show which fund paid.

Other providers

NourishNJ's checks of 05/14/2025 and 08/13/2025, 7,096.00 and 5,918.00, read as case management encounters on the settlement account. The vendor history lists the same checks as 1,080 meals and 810 meals. The FY2025 report describes the program as case management with access to fresh food. NewBridge, Homeless Solutions, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Safety First training are paid under contracts whose text names the service but not who it serves. No contract or invoice for them was produced. This project classifies them as unverified.

Records

The County produced the account activity report from 2022, a round three update through 08/30/2026, the three payroll journals with their supporting emails, the agreements under which Morris Township assigned its share, and vendor payment histories for eleven vendors from 2018. The County blacked out the account column on every page of the vendor histories, so they do not show which fund paid each earlier payment.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.