While new numbers from 2018 show progress in the fight against the deadly opioid epidemic in Trumbull County, the cost continues to strain the budget of the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office.

"It puts strain on the workers because of the number of inmates they have to keep track of," said Major Dan Mason said, with the sheriff's office.

All cells inside the county jail were almost consistently filled above capacity throughout 2018. Many of the inmates booked were addicts or drug users.

The jail has to provide and pay for medical and addiction treatment for the users who end up behind bars.

Major Mason says those costs recently went up to pay for an additional insurance policy for the doctor under contract providing those services. Mason said the sheriff's office is trying to lower its financial burden any way it can. This latest policy will be paid for by the sheriff's office, the juvenile court, and NEOCAP.

Despite the help, some end up back where they started.

"The jail does approximately between 5,000 and 6,000 bookings a year and there's probably about 500 to 600 people that are the same people booked in over and over," Mason said.

The repeat offenders have the option to continue treatment when they're released from prison. Mason says it's easy for them to also fall back into old habits.

With drugs so powerful, some don't survive.

In 2017 the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board reported 135 drug overdose deaths. In 2018 the county saw 60 deaths. About 60 percent of them were men.

Several more cases from 2018 are still pending, which could add the year's final number.

Mason says the jail is ending the year with 312 inmates. The jail's maximum capacity is 286.

The Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board submitted its Opiate Action Plan for 2017 to 2019 last week to the Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team in Columbus.

In the plan, the agency outlines the need to increase the number of arrests and incarcerations of drug traffickers in the county.

Increasing the number of law enforcement officers, more monitoring of people on probation and strict punishments for drug traffickers are among the items listed that the agency believes the county needs to achieve to make more progress.