Here are the entities that ultimately decide how each of Mississippi’s opioid settlement shares are spent:

• 70% abatement share: Mississippi state legislature

• 15% state share: Mississippi state legislature

• 15% local share: decisionmakers for counties, cities, and towns

Where do these monies live?

According to Mississippi’s MOU, seventy percent (70%) of Mississippi’s opioid settlement funds are directed to the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s (UMMC) Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) “to establish a new multidisciplinary program … dedicated to both short-term and long-term opioid abatement.”[1]

In July 2024, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch referred to a “two-prong proposal” to allocate this 70% abatement share differently.[2] As proposed by the AG, only half of this 70% abatement share would be directed to CAM as per the MOU, and the other half “would become an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to [abatement] projects.”[3] There is some indication that this share must pass through the state’s newly created Opioid Settlement Fund prior to its use by UMMC as well.[4] Both advocates and leaders within the state await finalization of Mississippi’s opioid settlement spending scheme.[5]

What can this share be spent on?

The national Distributor and Janssen settlement agreements require states to spend at least 70% of their proceeds on prospective abatement uses (i.e., “future Opioid Remediation”), as illustrated by the (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[6] According to Mississippi’s MOU, Mississippi has opted to satisfy this abatement requirement by directing this amount to the creation of a new multidisciplinary program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC),[7] described as “Mississippi’s only academic medical center dedicated to both short-term and long-term opioid abatement.”[8]

This means that this share must only be spent on prospective abatement and may not be used as reimbursement,[9] whether by UMMC or otherwise.[10]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

State legislature decides. The Mississippi state legislature will decide how this 70% abatement share is ultimately spent,[11] whether exclusively by UMMC’s new multidisciplinary program, as grants administered via committee, or otherwise.[12]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Mississippi does not prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the University of Mississippi Medical Center can spend its share in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

No (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

What else should I know?

Mississippi has been slower than most states in finalizing its allocation and decision-making scheme.

• The state’s MOU allocates Mississippi’s 70% abatement share to the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM). Our 2023 Community Guides referred to UMMC’s Center for Innovations and Discovery in Addictions (CIDA) as a possible alternate recipient of this share,[13] given that evidence of CAM’s existence — beyond its initial MOU mention — could not at the time be identified.

• In July 2024, the state’s Attorney General penned a column for the Daily Journal that described CAM’s existence as an unfinalized but likely eventuality.[14] The AG proposed to further subdivide the state’s 70% abatement share 50/50 between CAM and “an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds.”[15]

• In August 2024, KFF Health News reported on the continued uncertainty surrounding the state’s opioid settlement abatement planning and linked to a document provided by the state Attorney General’s office that “explains why [CAM] should receive millions in settlement funds.” This document is described by KFF as the last point of “cohesion” in the state’s planning, as UMMC “declined to confirm any communication with the attorney general’s office about the idea of a new center or answer any questions about the proposal.” The coverage refers to the Mississippi governor’s estimation January 2025 was mentioned as the next likely opportunity for the legislature to discuss its settlement spending scheme.[16]

Citations

1. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(c) (“The [University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM)] will receive 70% of all Opioid Funds to establish a new multidisciplinary program through Mississippi’s only academic medical center dedicated to both short-term and long-term opioid abatement”). See also Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (paraphrasing the national settlement agreements’ 70% “future Opioid Remediation” requirement and announcing that the AGO will work with UMMC to create a program to meet this requirement). ↑

2. “[W]e created a two-prong proposal to meet the abatement requirements in these settlements.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

3. “Ensuring Mississippi got its full funding due was our top priority, so we proposed that the Legislature divide the abatement funds from these eight settlements roughly in half. The first half of the funds would go to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to create and run the Center for Addiction Medicine – a project that clearly checks the boxes for these settlements. The other half would become an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to projects that also meet the abatement requirements around the State.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

4. 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(1) (“There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Opioid Settlement Fund. The fund shall consist of monies received by the Attorney General on behalf of the State of Mississippi from settlements of opioid litigation”); Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (describing the AG’s request that the “Legislature … at the very least start the transfer of funds for the Center for Addiction Medicine’s endowment” and referring to the creation of the Opioid Settlement Fund as a “first small step,” but that “the Legislature did not authorize [the AG’s office] to transfer any of the settlement dollars to that Fund, so the seeds for the Center for Addiction Medicine and other abatement projects will wait another year to be planted”). ↑

5. See “What else should I know?” (below) for more. See also Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 ("According to Leah Smith, deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, his office intends to meet with Mississippi state leaders and advocates ‘to establish a plan to be adopted by the Legislature when it next meets in January,’ although the timeline is uncertain”). ↑

6. See, e.g., Mississippi Executed Judgment, June 30, 2022 – Distributor pg. 3 and Janssen settlement agreement Sec. I.47. ↑

7. Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (“we worked with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to create a program that meets the opioid abatement requirements (that “the vast majority of the funds be used specifically for the treatment and abatement of opioids”) for the State. This will free local governments up to use your funds as you see fit without a national fund administrator micromanaging their use”). ↑

8. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(c) (“In the short-term, CAM will provide a patient-centered treatment program for patients of all ages and across the State through a continuum of inpatient, outpatient, and chronic care settings. This will include leveraging UMMC’s Center for Telehealth and utilizing existing and new collaborative community partnerships to address healthcare disparities in rural Mississippi. In the long-term, CAM will become a hub for training medical professionals, including those in pharmacy, nursing, and emergency medicine, to screen, diagnose, and treat individuals with addiction disorders. CAM will make Mississippi a nationally recognized leader in addiction research and treatment”). ↑

9. See, e.g., Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (paraphrasing the national settlement agreements’ 70% “future Opioid Remediation” requirement and announcing that the AGO will work with UMMC to create a program to meet this requirement). See also Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The 70% opioid abatement share must be spent on programs and services to address addiction. The state and local government shares may be spent on anything”). ↑

10. Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (referring to AG’s proposal to the Legislature to split the state’s 70% abatement share 50/50 between UMMC’s Center for Addiction Medicine and an “annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to projects”). See also UMMC Center for Addiction Medicine Fact Sheet. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The money allocated to CAM from the opioid litigation settlement will be used for certain one-time expenses (capital and initial operating investment) with the majority of the funds comprising an endowment. The interest income generated by the endowment would be used for ongoing operating expenses of the center. Expense categories are dependent on program prioritization and design”). ↑

11. 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(1) (“There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Opioid Settlement Fund. The fund shall consist of monies received by the Attorney General on behalf of the State of Mississippi from settlements of opioid litigation”); Id. At Sec. 2(2) (providing that “Monies in the fund shall be expended upon appropriation by the Legislature in accordance with the requirements of the opioid litigation settlements”); Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (describing the AG’s “two-prong[ed] proposal” as having been made to the “Legislature”; referring to AG’s request that the “Legislature … at the very least start the transfer of funds for the Center for Addiction Medicine’s endowment” and the creation of the Opioid Settlement Fund as a “first small step”). See also Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Both the state government’s share and the abatement fund will be under the direct control of the state legislature, which will ultimately decide how that money gets spent. The legislature, through an appropriations act, has set up a special account for all of the funds it controls”). ↑

12. In July 2024, the AG referred to a proposal that would devote “half” of this 70% abatement share to UMMC, and that the other half to “an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to projects.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The grant program would be administered by a committee of individuals who have a part in addressing opioids, including sheriffs; police chiefs; fire chiefs; local government leaders; the Departments of Mental Health and Health; and representatives appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House”) (emphasis added to emphasize lack of finality). There is some indication that the state legislature will consider this proposal in January 2025. Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“According to Leah Smith, deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, his office intends to meet with Mississippi state leaders and advocates ‘to establish a plan to be adopted by the Legislature when it next meets in January,’ although the timeline is uncertain”). ↑

13. CIDA, which is the “umbrella” for addiction medicine across the University, aims to discover and implement innovative substance use disorder treatments through support for research, education, and healthcare. See UMMC Opens New Center. The University of Mississippi Foundation Website. January 10, 2022. Accessed September 1, 2025; About Us (“About CIDA”). The University of Mississippi Medical Center website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

14. “This year, we asked the Legislature to at the very least start the transfer of funds for the Center for Addiction Medicine’s endowment, and they did take the first small step toward implementing this plan and distributing these funds by creating the Opioid Settlement Fund in the State budget. However, the Legislature did not authorize my office to transfer any of the settlement dollars to that Fund, so the seeds for the Center for Addiction Medicine and other abatement projects will wait another year to be planted.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

15. Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

16. Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

Can I provide input on spending?

• 70% abatement share: No opportunities available (not required). The Mississippi state legislature has not established recurring opportunities for the public to provide input on uses of the 70% abatement share.[1]

• 15% state share: No opportunities available (not required). The state has not established recurring opportunities for the public to provide input on uses of its 15% share.[2]

• 15% local share: Up to each locality (not required). Local governments are not required to seek public input on uses of their collective 15% share. However, each may choose to seek such input. Watch for other opportunities to weigh in on city and county spending decisions, such as city council meetings and town halls.

Can I apply for grants?

It depends. As of September 1, 2024, Mississippi has not established any settlement-funded grant opportunities for which community organizations are eligible to apply. Local governments may create grant programs to distribute their share of funds. The existence, parameters, and processes for local settlement grant programs will vary by locality, so stay alert for new opportunities. Visit the Opioid Settlement Community Grants Portals (OpioidSettlementTracker.com and Legal Action Center) for the most up-to-date information on settlement grant opportunities for community organizations.

Where do I go for updates?

• A single resource containing opioid settlement-related updates on the 70% abatement share could not be found.[3]

• A single resource containing state share updates could not be found.[4] The state Attorney General’s Mississippi Opioid Settlement website contains information related to the litigation only.

• For updates on the local share, a good starting point is to check the website for your county board of supervisors, city council, or local health department.

• You can also sign up for updates from Community Education Group’s Appalachian Opioid Remediation (AOR) Database, which tracks information about the 13 states of Appalachia.

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

1. If you see this change, email tips@opioidsettlementtracker.com. ↑

2. If you see this change, email tips@opioidsettlementtracker.com. ↑

3. If you see this change, email tips@opioidsettlementtracker.com. ↑

4. If you see this change, email tips@opioidsettlementtracker.com. ↑

Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?

No. Mississippi has not established an advisory body to inform opioid settlement spending.

Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

Not applicable.

What is the overall membership of the state advisory body?

Not applicable.

Are local governments required to establish a settlement advisory body? If so, are local advisory bodies required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

No (up to each locality). Local governments in Mississippi are not required to establish opioid settlement advisory bodies. However, localities may independently choose to establish advisory councils that include members with lived and/or living experience to help ensure that settlement spending reflects community priorities.

What else should I know?

In July 2024, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch referred to a “two-prong proposal” to allocate this 70% abatement share differently.[1] As proposed by the AG, only half of this 70% abatement share would be directed to CAM as per the MOU, and the other half “would become an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to [abatement] projects.”[2] Both advocates and leaders within the state await finalization of Mississippi’s opioid settlement spending scheme, including the creation of any advisory committees.[3]

Citations

1. “[W]e created a two-prong proposal to meet the abatement requirements in these settlements.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

2. “Ensuring Mississippi got its full funding due was our top priority, so we proposed that the Legislature divide the abatement funds from these eight settlements roughly in half. The first half of the funds would go to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to create and run the Center for Addiction Medicine – a project that clearly checks the boxes for these settlements. The other half would become an annual grant program through which a committee established by the Legislature would distribute funds to projects that also meet the abatement requirements around the State.” Lynn Fitch. Demanding Accountability for the Opioid Crisis. Daily Journal. July 13, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

3. See “What else should I know?” (below) for more. See also Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 ("According to Leah Smith, deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, his office intends to meet with Mississippi state leaders and advocates ‘to establish a plan to be adopted by the Legislature when it next meets in January,’ although the timeline is uncertain”). ↑

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed directly to 146 participating counties, cities, towns, and villages according to the percentages listed here­­­.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

Mississippi’s settlement memorandum of understanding provides that localities “may” spend funds from this share “for opioid abatement, or any purpose deemed appropriate by [a] County or Municipality,” with no more than half used for certain local governments’ attorneys’ fees.[2] However, at least a portion of monies in this share must be spent on abatement uses (as illustrated the non-exhaustive Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies) to ensure the state meets the minimum opioid remediation spending requirements in later settlement agreements.[3]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for counties, cities, towns, and villages will decide for themselves how to spend their monies from this share.[4]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Mississippi does not prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that its 15% local share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

Up to each locality (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.

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

1. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(a) (“The County/Municipality fund will receive 15% of all Settlement funds for the direct benefit of Mississippi Counties and Municipalities. The amounts to be distributed to each County and Municipality shall be determined by the Negotiation Class Metrics”). Non-litigating cities and towns with populations under 10,000 will have their amounts reallocated to their counties. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(a)(ii). See also Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. A.5 (defining “County” to mean “one of the 82 governmental subdivisions in the State recognized and/or established under the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 that filed a lawsuit against settling Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants as of August 1, 2021, or has a population greater than 10,000 individuals”), A.6 (defining “Municipalities” to mean “cities, towns, or villages within the State with a population greater than 10,000 individuals and shall also include all cities and towns that filed a lawsuit against settling Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants as of August 1, 2021”). Note that all Opioid Settlement Funds are deposited into the Attorney General Contingency Fund before being allocated into the respective shares. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1. ↑

2. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(a). A maximum of 7.5% may be spent for certain local governments’ attorneys’ fees. See Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. C, C.1 (requiring creation of “County/Municipality Fee Fund” to “pay attorneys’ fees and expenses for participating Counties/Municipalities in the State that filed opioid lawsuits on or before August 1, 2021 (‘Litigating Participating Counties/Municipalities’)”), C.2 (providing that “In no circumstance shall the CMFF receive more than 7.5% of the net Total Cash Value received by the State” without specifying which share this 7.5% will be drawn from), C.3 (providing that any remaining funds in the CMFF “shall revert pro rata to the Litigating Participating Counties/Municipalities”). See also Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (“The national settlement proposed a split of funds due to each state as: 70% to an abatement fund, 15% to a State fund, 15% to a local government fund. … However, we also want to use a portion of the State fund to help local governments meet their contractual obligations to their attorneys who have helped to bring us to these settlements”). ↑

3. Mississippi originally intended to provide localities the flexibility to spend their share of settlement funds without restriction by directing 70% of the state’s settlement monies to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, thereby satisfying the Distributor and Janssen settlement agreements requirement to spend a minimum 70% of funds on opioid remediation. See Mississippi Executed Judgment, June 30, 2022 – Distributor pg. 3 and Janssen settlement agreement Sec. I.47. See also Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (“Mississippi has suffered great loss and I am committed to ensuring every dollar our State and local governments is due remains in Mississippi and is not clawed back by the defendants. To that end, we worked with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to create a program that meets the opioid abatement requirements for the State. This will free local governments up to use your funds as you see fit without a national fund administrator micromanaging their use”) (emphasis in original). However, later settlement agreements, such as those with CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, require a greater percentage of funds be spent on opioid remediation. See, e.g., CVS Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95.5% opioid remediation spending); Walgreens Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95% opioid remediation spending); Walmart Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 85% opioid remediation spending). This means that even if all the UMMC share (70%) and state share (15%) are spent on opioid remediation, some portion of the local share must also be spent on opioid remediation to meet the minimum opioid remediation spending requirements of certain settlements (e.g., CVS and Walgreens). ↑

4. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(a) (“[Counties’ and municipalities’] funds may be spent for opioid abatement, or any purpose deemed appropriate by said County or Municipality”). ↑

This Community Guide will describe how Mississippi is spending its opioid settlements and whether Mississippi is working to ensure community access to opioid settlement funds. Last revised September 1, 2024.

University of Mississippi Medical Center

Mississippi Attorney General

Community Education Group

Where do these monies live?

This share is paid to Mississippi’s Attorney General, who deposits the funds into the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund created in 2024.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

This share must be spent “in accordance with the requirements of the opioid litigation settlements.”[2]

• Monies in this share from the Distributor and Janssen settlements are not required to be spent on abatement.[3] This is because the state opted to satisfy these settlements’ minimum remediation spending by directing 70% of settlement funds to the creation of a new program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.[4]

• For other settlement agreements (e.g., CVS, Walgreens, Walmart), at least a portion of monies in this share must be spent on abatement uses, as illustrated by their (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E. This is because these settlement agreements require a higher percentage of funds be spent on opioid remediation.[5]

A November 5, 2021 letter from the Mississippi Attorney General to Mississippi localities expressed an intent to spend a portion of this share on local governments’ attorneys’ fees,[6] but it is unclear whether such spending occurred.

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

State legislature decides. The Mississippi state legislature appropriates funds from the 15% state share.[7]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Mississippi does not prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 15% state share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

No (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.

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

1. 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(1) (“There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Opioid Settlement Fund. The fund shall consist of monies received by the Attorney General on behalf of the State of Mississippi from settlements of opioid litigation”). See also Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. B.1(b) (“The State will receive 15% of all Opioid Funds paid to the State General Fund”), A.1 (defining “The State” to mean “the State of Mississippi acting through the Attorney General”). See also Violet Jira and Henry Larweh. Opioid Settlements Promise Mississippi a Windfall. What Happens Next?. KFF Health News and Mississippi Today. August 14, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Both the state government’s share and the abatement fund will be under the direct control of the state legislature, which will ultimately decide how that money gets spent. The legislature, through an appropriations act, has set up a special account for all of the funds it controls”). ↑

2. 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(2). ↑

3. See, e.g., 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(2) (providing that “Monies in the fund shall be expended upon appropriation

   by the Legislature in accordance with the requirements of the opioid litigation settlements”); Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1(b) (providing merely that the State, which the MOU defines as the AG, will receive 15%). Note that all Opioid Settlement Funds are deposited into the Attorney General Contingency Fund before being allocated into the respective shares. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. B.1. ↑

4. See Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (“we worked with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to create a program that meets the opioid abatement requirements” that “the vast majority of the funds be used specifically for the treatment and abatement of opioids.” “This will free local governments up to use your funds as you see fit without a national fund administrator micromanaging their use”). ↑

5. See, e.g., CVS Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95.5% opioid remediation spending); Walgreens Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95% opioid remediation spending); Walmart Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 85% opioid remediation spending). ↑

6. Mississippi Attorney General’s November 5, 2021 letter to localities (“The national settlement proposed a split of funds due to each state as: 70% to an abatement fund, 15% to a State fund, 15% to a local government fund. … However, we also want to use a portion of the State fund to help local governments meet their contractual obligations to their attorneys who have helped to bring us to these settlements”). ↑

7. Mississippi State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. B.1(b) (“The State will receive 15% of all Opioid Funds paid to the State General Fund”), A.1 (defining “The State” to mean “the State of Mississippi acting through the Attorney General”); 2024 MS House Bill 1705, Sec. 2(2) (providing that “Monies in the fund shall be expended upon appropriation by the Legislature in accordance with the requirements of the opioid litigation settlements”). ↑