There were 92 fatal drug overdoses in Butler County in 2017.

The Butler County Coroner's office confirmed the number this week after toxicity test results came back for the final pending death investigations from last year.

That number is an increase of 18 over the 2016 total of 74. There were 47 cases in 2015, 33 in 2014 and 13 in 2013.

County residents who died of overdoses outside Butler County were not included in the figure.

“One is too many. I will always say that,” County Commissioner Kevin Boozel said Wednesday in reaction to the news.

County Coroner William Young III said that he is optimistic that the number of fatal cases will decrease in 2018.

After 31 days, there is only one confirmed fatal overdose in 2018 with only one or two cases pending, he said.

“The police are doing a great job right now and I hope we can secure the (country’s) borders better,” he said.

In 2017, 14 people died in the county from vehicle accidents, 3 died of homicide, 28 died of suicide, 89 died of natural causes and 17 died from other types of accidents, according to the coroner's office.

A full report appears in Thursday's Butler Eagle.