WINFIELD — During Tuesday’s Putnam County Commission meeting, commissioners approved the use of opioid settlement money for a Cellebrite Inseyets online subscription, allowing the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department to unlock suspect smartphones and devices during investigations.

Putnam County Sheriff Bobby Eggleton said he, the City of Hurricane and the Putnam County Commission entered into an agreement to purchase the subscription. Previously, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Hurricane Police Department sent devices to the South Charleston Police Department to have them unlocked.

“It’s very expensive," Eggleton said. But in today’s world of technology it’s almost imperative that you have this,” Eggleton said.

It typically costs about $1,000 to unlock a phone, Eggleton said

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