50% Local Share
Where do these monies live?
This share is distributed directly to participating counties according to Exhibit B of Utah’s MOU.[1] Counties can work with their constituent municipalities to allocate their county shares amongst themselves “in any manner they choose,”[2] with each able to combine funds with surrounding local governments to jointly provide services.[3]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[4] this share must be spent on the approved uses described in Exhibit A of Utah’s MOU,[5] which is identical to the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E and includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies. Reimbursement uses of opioid settlement funds are prohibited statewide.[6]
The Utah Opioid Task Force’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee has created a Utah Opioid Crisis Response Blueprint that identifies priorities, includes subject matter expert-recommended strategies, and is intended to “assist ... state and local communities in utilizing funds” without requiring their specific uses.[7]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Counties decide autonomously (but must report planned uses). Decisionmakers for the counties will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on approved uses,[8] and county legislative bodies (i.e., council or commission) have final say over how these shares are spent.[9] However, settling local governments must annually file proposed plans describing anticipated uses of funds with the Utah Association of Counties.[10] Counties must also report their expenditures, among other items, to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Substance Use and Mental Health.[11]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
Yes, supplantation is prohibited. Utah state law explicitly prohibits supplantation uses of state and local opioid settlement funds.[12] This means that Utah’s opioid settlement funds only be spent in ways that supplement – rather than replace (or “supplant”) – existing state or local government resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). View DHHS’ annual reports on its Opioid Litigation page.[13] DHHS must publish detailed expenditure reporting on its website for both the state and local shares.[14] Legislative changes in 2024 increased the level of required detail in these reports.[15]
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
One Utah Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 3.3 (50% of the Settlement Funds shall be allocated to the Settling Party Counties”), MOU 2.3, 2.13 (defining Settling Party Counties to mean counties that have accepted a settlement and are signatories to the MOU), and MOU 4.2 (“The Settling Party Local Governments’ Share shall be distributed by the National Settlement Fund Administrator directly to each settling County pursuant to the percentages set forth in Exhibit B”). See also Opioid Settlement Payment Estimates by County. Utah Association of Counties (UAC). Updated July 2023. Accessed August 27, 2024. ↑
MOU 5.1. ↑
“Counties can combine their funds with surrounding counties or municipalities to provide combined services in the region.” See Opioid Settlements 101. Utah Association of Couties presentation. Accessed August 27, 2024. ↑
MOU 4.2 (providing that local governments’ shares are distributed directly to each participating county or to the “Utah attorney fee and expense fund established in Section 6”), MOU 6 (requiring creation of “Utah attorney fee and expense fund” funded by localities’ shares without requiring a specific percentage set-aside), and MOU 7.4 (“Out of any Settlement Funds, administrative expenses shall not exceed 1% of the Settlement Funds recovered by the State or any Settling Party”). See also Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
MOU 2.2 (defining “Approved Uses” to mean “those uses identified in Exhibit A, Opioid Settlement Funds – Approved Uses”) and MOU 3.1 (“All Settlement Funds, other than those directed to attorney fees and costs, regardless of allocation, shall be utilized consistent with the Approved Uses”). See also Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(1)(b) (defining “opioid funds” to mean both the state and political subdivisions’ monies) and Sec. 26B-5-211(2)(a) (“Opioid funds may not be used to … reimburse expenditures that were incurred before the opioid funds were received by the governmental entity”). ↑
Utah Opioid Crisis Response Blueprint. Utah Opioid Task Force, Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. January 2024. Accessed August 27, 2024 (“The [Committee] is composed of subject matter experts from a broad range of fields and has the singular task of providing guidance on utilizing settlement funds expected from various opioid litigations”). ↑
MOU 3.1 and 3.3 (describing Settling Party Counties’ direct receipt of their allocations for uses consistent with approved uses). See also County Opioid Settlement Funds FAQs. UAC. December 2023. Accessed August 27, 2024 (“The State cannot direct counties to use their opioid settlement funds in any way”). The same resource goes on to advise that “[i]f you have questions about how to use your opioid funds, please consult with your County Commission/Council, your County Sheriff, your County Attorney, and your Local Mental Health/Substance Use Authority”). ↑
Opioid Settlements 101. UAC. Accessed August 27, 2024. (“Who gets the final say in how to spend the funds?” “The county legislative body, i.e. the Council or Commission. But attorneys, law enforcement, and behavioral health professionals should provide input and help to guide the decision”). ↑
MOU 7.2. For more explanation, see UAC’s County Opioid Settlement Funds FAQs (“UAC does not have any official authority over the opioid settlement or how counties use their money. UAC does not receive any portion of the opioid settlement. Money is not passed through UAC to the counties but instead comes directly from the National Settlement Fund Administrator BrownGreer. UAC was selected by the Utah County and District Attorneys Association to be the reporting Administrator as detailed in the MOU”). Note that the MOU refers simply to “the Administrator” and does not offer additional detail. ↑
Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(4)-(5) (requiring political subdivisions to annually report several measures to the DHHS Office of Substance Use and Mental Health). This statute, enacted after the MOU, ostensibly supersedes the expenditure reporting requirements in MOU 7.3 (requiring Settling Party Local Governments to report their Distributor and Janssen expenditures to the “Administrator,” which subsequent guidance identifies as the Utah Association of Counties); see County Opioid Settlement Funds FAQs. UAC. December 2023. Accessed August 27, 2024 (“The MOU does not identify an Administrator to report to. The Utah County and District Attorneys Association suggested that UAC should act as the reporting Administrator”). ↑
Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(1)(b) (defining “opioid funds” to include opioid settlement funds received by the state or a political subdivision), (2)(b) (providing that “opioid funds” may not be used to “supplant or take the place of any funds that would otherwise have been expended for that purpose”). See also Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(6)(e) (requiring the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Substance Use and Mental Health’s annual opioid settlement report to include “a description of any finding or concern as to whether all opioid funds disbursed from the restricted account violated the prohibitions” against supplantation). ↑
See, e.g., Annual Opioid Litigation Funding Report. Utah Department of Health and Human Services. September 30, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(6)-(7) (outlining the requirements for expenditure reporting submitted to the legislature by the DHHS Office of Substance Use and Mental Health to be made public on the DHHS website). See also Utah Code Ann. Sec. 26B-5-211(1)(b) (defining “opioid funds” to include opioid settlement funds received by the state or a political subdivision). ↑
2024 UT SB 261 (with an effective date of May 1, 2024). ↑
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