PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Scioto County Sheriff David Thoroughman has been named to a state advisory committee that will help oversee recovery housing residences across Ohio, giving Scioto County a seat in decisions about how sober-living facilities are certified and regulated statewide.
Thoroughman attended his first meeting of the Recovery Housing Residence Advisory Committee at the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health in Columbus this week, after being invited to join by state Rep. Justin Pizzulli, R-Scioto Township, who represents Ohio’s 90th House District, the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
The committee advises the Department of Behavioral Health, which gained direct authority over recovery housing certification statewide after Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order in August giving the department power to certify operators, investigate complaints and enforce compliance, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian’s reporting. Recovery housing residences are alcohol- and drug-free living environments that pair peer support with help connecting residents to addiction treatment services.
Thoroughman said he is representing both law enforcement and Scioto County on the committee, according to the sheriff’s office post reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian. He said law enforcement needs a seat at the table when decisions are made about how recovery residences operate and are overseen, noting that Scioto County has seen the impact of addiction firsthand.
He said he plans to keep working with state and local partners on solutions that support people in recovery while keeping neighborhoods safe, and he thanked Pizzulli for the invitation, according to the post. He said he would share updates as the committee’s work moves forward.
For Scioto County, the appointment puts a local sheriff inside a new statewide oversight structure at the moment it is being built. Recovery housing sits at the intersection of treatment, housing and neighborhood concerns, and the August executive order moved certification and complaint enforcement to the state department — the system the advisory committee will now help shape.
What happens next is the committee’s ongoing work advising the Department of Behavioral Health as it certifies operators and handles complaints under the new authority. Thoroughman has said he will share updates from that work, and NewsForce247 will follow any Scioto County-specific guidance or standards that come out of it.
Photo: Vasiliymeshko, CC BY 4.0