25% Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund Share
Where do these monies live?
Twenty-five percent (25%) of Kansas’ opioid settlement funds are held in the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund (“MFA Fund”),[1] which is administered by the state Attorney General and distributed per capita to local governments.[2] This share is split evenly between Kansas’ cities and counties.[3]
12.5% of Kansas’ opioid settlement funds is directly allocated to Kansas’ cities, with litigating cities that have released their claims receiving a 25% increase in their share.[4] Non-litigating cities are eligible to receive funds only if they passed a resolution prior to February 18, 2022 stating that they can spend their funds for approved purposes.[5]
12.5% of Kansas’ opioid settlement funds is directly allocated to Kansas’ counties, with one half (6.25%) allocated among all counties,[6] and the other half (6.25%) allocated among litigating counties that have released their claims.[7] Non-litigating counties are eligible to receive funds only if they passed a resolution prior to February 18, 2022 stating that they can spend their funds for approved purposes.[8]
Cities and counties may pool their funds or allocate them to the KFA Fund,[9] and each are required to set up separate funds to hold their opioid settlement proceeds separate from other local monies.[10]
What can this share be spent on?
Excepting attorneys’ fees and administrative expenses,[11] localities must use monies from the MFA Fund “in a manner consistent with the approved purposes,” which the state defines as “projects and activities that prevent, reduce, treat or mitigate the effects of substance abuse and addiction.”[12] Localities may use these funds for reimbursement purposes.[13]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Localities decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the counties and municipalities will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on approved purposes,[14] including as sub-grants to local organizations and service providers,[15] subject to their normal budgeting processes.[16]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Kansas does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from its Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund (MFA) share. This means that local governments may use their MFA Fund shares in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Up to each locality (no public reporting required, only intrastate). Localities are required to report expenditures to the state.[17] Though the state does not currently publish these reports online, the Kansas Office of Attorney General has confirmed that the reports are subject to public records requests and that the state is working to increase the accessibility of its settlement expenditure data.[18]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
Kan. Stat. Ann. Secs. 75-777(a) (“the attorney general shall remit to the state treasurer … all moneys that are received by the state pursuant to opioid litigation,” “the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount into the state treasury,” then “credit … 25% of each such deposit to the municipalities fight addiction fund”), 75-777(d)(1) (“There is hereby established in the state treasury the municipalities fight addiction fund”). See also Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.1 (describing statewide allocation). ↑
Kan. Stat. Ann. Secs. 75-777(d)(1) (“such fund shall be administered by the attorney general to disburse funds to municipalities”), 75-777(d)(2) (describing disbursements from the MFA Fund to both municipalities “that have not filed opioid litigation” and those that have and released their claims); Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.3 (“The city and county shares … of the Municipalities Fight Addiction Fund shall be allocated per capita”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. C.2, C.3(e) (“Maximizing Settlement Funds shall be distributed directly to the eligible Political Subdivisions, both cities and counties, by the Attorney General or in some other manner consistent with the provisions 2021 Kansas House Bill 2079”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. C.3(c)(i) (“The allocation of Maximizing Settlement Funds to the cities shall be distributed … to Litigating Cities that have entered a Release and Assignment Agreement according to each such Litigating City’s population proportional to the total population of all cities in Kansas, multiplied by 1.25”), A.9(a) (defining “Litigating City” or “Litigating County” to mean “a Political Subdivision that filed or became a party to opioid litigation in court prior to January 1, 2021, or received approval from the Attorney General to file or become a party to opioid litigation and has filed or become a party to opioid litigation on or after January 1, 2021”), A.9 (defining “Political Subdivision” to mean “any Kansas city or county”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. C.3(c)(ii) (“the balance, thereof, distributed to all eligible non-litigating cities”), C.3(b) (requiring resolution to state that the city “has previous or expected expenses related to substance abuse or addiction mitigation or other covered conduct in excess of $500” and can use the funds “in accordance with the approved purposes”), MOU Amendment 2 (modifying date by which localities must have passed a resolution). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.3(d)(i). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. C.3(d)(ii) (“50% of the total allocation of Maximizing Settlement Funds to the counties shall be distributed to the Litigating Counties that have entered a Release and Assignment Agreement”), A.9(a) (defining “Litigating City” or “Litigating County” to mean “a Political Subdivision that filed or became a party to opioid litigation in court prior to January 1, 2021, or received approval from the Attorney General to file or become a party to opioid litigation and has filed or become a party to opioid litigation on or after January 1, 2021”), A.9 (defining “Political Subdivision” to mean “any Kansas city or county”). See also Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.3(d)(iii) (“This 50% assumes that 100% of Litigating Counties are participating. If less than 100% of Litigating Counties participate, this 50% to the Litigating Counties is reduced by the corresponding reduction in the settlement”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. C.3(b) (requiring resolution to state that the county “has previous or expected expenses related to substance abuse or addiction mitigation or other covered conduct in excess of $500” and can use the funds “in accordance with the approved purposes”), MOU Amendment 2 (modifying date by which localities must have passed a resolution). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. D.3. ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.3(f) (“Maximizing Settlement Funds distributed to the eligible Political Subdivisions shall be held in a segregated account by the respective Political Subdivisions to be used for Approved Purposes. Funds in this special revenue fund shall not be commingled with any other money or fund of the Political Subdivision”). ↑
Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 75-777(d)(1) (“[MFA Fund] [m]oneys may … be used to reimburse municipalities for the payment of litigation costs, expenses or attorney fees related to opioid litigation, except that a municipality shall first seek payment from applicable outside settlement sources or settlement fee funds prior to seeking payment from the municipalities fight addiction fund”); Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. E.4 (“Expenses for the administration of the distribution of settlement funds, pursuant to the Settlement Funds Distribution Procedure, shall be shared proportionally among the Parties”). See also Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. D.4 (repeating much of the same). Importantly, the MOU does add that the state Attorney General may use the MFA Fund for attorneys’ fees as well. See Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. A.1 (“Moneys in the Municipalities Fight Addiction fund may also be used by State and Political Subdivisions for the payment of litigation costs, expenses or attorney fees related to opioid litigation”), A.14 (defining the “State” to mean “the State of Kansas acting through its Attorney General”). ↑
Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 75-777(d)(1) (“Moneys in the municipalities fight addiction fund shall be expended subject to [the MOU] for projects and activities that prevent, reduce, treat or mitigate the effects of substance abuse and addiction or to reimburse the municipality for previous expenses related to substance abuse mitigation or arising from covered conduct”); Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. D.1 (“Regardless of allocation, all Settlement Funds shall be used in a manner consistent with the Approved Purposes”), A.1 (defining “Approved Purpose(s)” to mean “projects and activities, including, but not limited to law enforcement, that prevent, reduce, treat, or mitigate the effects of substance abuse and addiction or to reimburse the State or Political Subdivisions for previous expenses related to substance abuse mitigation or arising from covered conduct”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. D.1 (“Prior to using any Settlement Funds as reimbursement for previous expenses related to substance abuse mitigation or arising from covered conduct, a Political Subdivision shall pass a resolution stating that its previous expenses related to substance abuse mitigation or arising from covered conduct are greater than or equal to the amount of funds that the Political subdivision seeks to use for reimbursement”). ↑
Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 75-777(d)(2) (“An agreement between the attorney general, the Kansas association of counties and the league of Kansas municipalities shall determine the method for disbursing moneys from the fund”); Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Secs. B.5 (describing direct payment of localities’ amounts to their respective segregated accounts), C.6(e)-(f) (same for Maximizing Settlement Funds), D.1-4 (describing cities’ and counties’ myriad powers to spend their monies on approved purposes and attorneys’ fees). See also Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 75-777a(a) (“The board of county commissioners of any county may provide, by adoption of a resolution, for a municipalities fight addiction fund to finance expenditures incurred as described in K.S.A. 2023 Supp. 75-777”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. C.3(f) (“Although Political Subdivisions may make contracts with or grants to a nonprofit, charity, or other entity, they may not assign to another entity their rights to receive Maximizing Settlement Funds”). ↑
Kansas Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Between the Attorney General, the League of Kansas Municipalities, and the Kansas Association of Counties, Sec. D.1. ↑
Based on an August 2024 email exchange between the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Vital Strategies, and OpioidSettlementTracker.com. ↑
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