LAWTON – Comanche County Board of Commissioners Chairman Josh Powers and Lawton resident Brenda Spencer-Ragland will serve as trustees for the Southern Oklahoma Drug Addiction Trust, a public trust designed to address opioid addiction in this part of the state.
The commissioners voted 3-0 June 23 to approve the trust indenture that created SODA and appoint Powers and Spencer- Ragland as trustees, who will represent the county on the board.
Oklahoma law allows cities and counties to establish trusts to fulfill a public purpose, such as operating a hospital or managing specific projects. The trust exists separately from both its creator and the governmental entity that benefits from it.
District attorneys across southwest Oklahoma spearheaded the creation of the SODA trust as a way to manage the region’s share of money from the state’s legal settlement with opioid makers and distributors, said District Attorney Kyle Cabelka. The attorneys’ ultimate goal was to establish either a single treatment center that could serve the entire region or multiple treatment centers.
“This is the first step of getting that accomplished,” Cabelka said.
The county hired a Norman- based economic development law firm to create the trust, which will be comprised of five people: Powers, Spencer- Ragland and commissioners from three other districts.
“Once every county approves this resolution, the next step is for those five board members to meet,” Cabelka said. “Hopefully, very soon after that meeting, an executive director is hired to really help – in reality, start the process of creating either one facility or multiple facilities.”
He said Comanche County has received close to $2 million in litigation settlement funds so far, and he was excited about being part of the treatment center project. Fighting opioid addiction Spencer-Ragland said Powers contacted her about serving on the SODA trust around the time she completed her doctoral dissertation about preventing homelessness among veterans.
“It was perfect timing because as you study homelessness, you find out that homelessness is brought on because of certain things – economic, family situations,” she said in an interview following the commission meeting. “But it can also be due to addictions and things that put people in that cycle. So seeing that we’re doing something about one of those situations that can lead to homelessness is very important.”
Spencer-Ragland is the founder and executive director of the Embrace Hope Collaboratorium, a nonprofit organization that took over management of the C. Carter Crane Center in July 2024. The Crane Center is a 28-bed home less shelter in Lawton.
Spencer-Ragland said the shelter does not house people who are struggling with drug addiction, but it provides referral services. She said she was pleased that the county is moving forward with a plan to help those people, and she is looking forward to serving on the SODA trust.
“This is one of those so cial needs that we need for our county, and I’m really excited for Comanche County,” Spencer-Ragland said. “I’m excited for the state that there’s an emphasis being placed on this.”