A nonprofit group is negotiating to take over the Madison County program, which was stopped last summer.

The Clark County Health Department is waiting on final numbers but said tests so far show 60 drug-related deaths in 2017. That compares to 90 in 2016.

The county plans to also operate a mobile exchange on weekends in addition to the stationary location, as a means of reaching a still-rising number of patients.

Scott County opened the state's first syringe exchange program in 2015 after then-Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency.

The state's syringe exchange law is mentioned in a report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse as a best practice for reducing opioid deaths.

Government funding was cut off this summer when the County Council voted to prohibit county funds or donations from supporting the program.

Clark County commissioners on Thursday night voted unanimously to extend the program for another year. The program now will be up for renewal at the end of August 2018.

One of the first Indiana counties to implement a syringe exchange is now the first in the state to effectively shut its program down.

The Madison County Council last week tabled a $15,000 request from the county health department to fund the program.

The state has implemented just one of five CDC-recommended measures to prevent the spread of the disease through sharing contaminated needles.