People packed into a small meeting room Wednesday as the Scott County Commissioners considered whether to approve the health board's request to continue the program.

Indiana lawmakers banned state funding from going to the programs that provide intravenous drug users with clean syringes.

Monroe County was approved for a needle exchange in December when the state health commissioner declared a public health emergency. That allowed the creation of a needle-exchange program to curb the spread of hepatitis C tied to intravenous drug use.

Madison County public health coordinator Stephanie Grimes says the number of intravenous drug users taking part in the county's needle-exchange has doubled each month since October.

The Monroe County Health Department will use a grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis and AIDS United to help fund its syringe exchange program.

Monroe County is the latest in Indiana to have been declared a public health emergency. State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams made the declaration today in response to an outbreak of hepatitis C.

More than 20 percent of Indiana counties are in the process of creating a needle exchange program.

Monroe County Health Department Administrator Penny Caudill says the declaration is the first step to create a needle exchange. The numbers of Hepatitis C cases in the county have increased over 50 percent since 2009.

Brown County has seen a slight increase in its Hepatitis C rates over the past year, now officials are trying to determine the cause.

The needle-exchange program will start next Wednesday and rotate between four sites in hopes of reducing the spread of hepatitis C among IV drug users.