COLUMBUS, Kan. — The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office is enhancing its fight against fentanyl, thanks to a $30,000 federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant from the Kansas Governor’s Grant Program.

With these funds, the Sheriff’s Office will acquire new narcotic investigation equipment. This tool enables officers to conduct non-contact field tests for over 500 substances and receive immediate results, a significant improvement from their previous chemical tests that required contact with harmful substances and took more than two weeks to yield results.

“The equipment itself costs around $30,000, so without this grant, we wouldn’t be able to purchase it at this time, providing more safety to the officers while they are out doing their work,” said Sheriff David Groves of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Groves anticipates having the equipment ready for use by the end of the year.