West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey held a town hall at the Judge Black Annex in Parkersburg Monday night to talk about what he can do for the Mid-Ohio Valley. (Photo by Madeline Scarborough)

PARKERSBURG — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey held a town hall at the Judge Black Annex on Monday night to talk about what he can do for the Mid-Ohio Valley.

According to Morrisey, the Attorney General’s office has spent a lot of time since 2013 fighting for recovery, checking bills to be sure they are constitutional and looking out for issues that could affect local jobs.

In Parkersburg one of the growing issue has been the rising number of recovery facilities in the area.

According to Delegate Roger Conley, R-Wood, who was among the other state representatives who made it to Monday’s town hall meeting, over 25 percent of the beds for the entire state are in Wood County.

Parkersburg City Council last week passed the first reading of an ordinance that would place a moratorium on the opening of any new residential substance abuse therapy facilities until June 30, 2022. City officials have said there’s a connection between the large number of treatment beds added to the area in the last four years and an increase in homelessness and related crime.

This issue helped to spur Morrisey’s decision to hold a town hall meeting and invite legislators to hear the public’s concerns.

And the public showed up to make sure their voices and opinions were heard. The Judge Black Annex was packed with people who wanted to discuss recovery, vaccines and gun rights. There were people in the crowd who were on both sides of all topics and yet no matter what side they took the arguments led back to working together and finding a happy medium.

With recovery being the main topic, concerns expressed were the fact that those in recovery are only covered by Medicaid for 28 days; that there are many people in the local recovery centers from other states that are then cut loose at Wood County’s expense and where federal funds will be spent that are coming to the state.

Delegate John Kelly, R-Wood, was also among those in attendance and talked with many in the crowd about how they could amend current bills to better reflect the needs of the area.

In closing, Conley encouraged everyone to continue looking at introduced bills and fight for them.

“We need help from you the people to when you see things you are passionate about, follow them and let your voices be heard through all parts of the process,” said Conley.