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

• 80% local share: decisionmakers for parishes

• 20% sheriffs’ share: sheriffs for each of Louisiana’s parishes

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed to the sheriffs of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

Louisiana’s opioid settlement Memorandum of Understanding does not require the sheriff’s 20% share of funds to be spent on Approved Purposes.[2] However, at least a portion of monies in this share must inevitably be spent on abatement uses (as illustrated by the national settlement agreements’ non-exhaustive Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies) for the state to meet its minimum opioid remediation spending requirements under the different agreements.[3]

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

Sheriffs decide autonomously. Each of the sheriffs for the 64 Louisiana parishes will presumably decide their own specific expenditures themselves, given that Louisiana’s opioid settlement Memorandum of Understanding contains no restrictions on how the funds are spent.[4] Additionally, although the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force is required to reserve one of its five seats for a Louisiana Sheriff’s Association appointee,[5] the Task Force is not specifically required to oversee this share.[6]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Louisiana does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 20% Sheriffs’ 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 for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

Not applicable.

1. Louisiana State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. (“twenty percent (20%) going to the benefit of Sheriffs”), (defining “Sheriff” to mean “the sheriff in each of the 64 parishes”). ↑

2. See, e.g., Louisiana State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. (requiring “Qualified Parishes” and “all other Parishes” spend their shares on Approved Purposes” but no comparable language applicable to sheriffs), (specifically defining “Parish” to mean “one of the 64 parish governments”), (defining “Sheriff” separately to mean “the sheriff in each of the 64 parishes”). ↑

3. See, e.g., Distributor Settlement Agreement,

Where do these monies live?

The best available evidence indicates that this share is distributed to each of the state’s 64 parishes according to Exhibit B of Louisiana's Memorandum of Understanding.[1] There are three types of parishes,[2] all of which receive their distributions directly from and report to the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force (Task Force) and the Opioid Abatement Administration Corporation (OAAC).[3]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[4] all parishes must spend their shares on the forward-looking uses described in Exhibit A of Louisiana’s Memorandum of Understanding and prioritize treatment for people with opioid use disorder (OUD) not covered by Medicaid or private insurance.[5]

Louisiana’s Exhibit A differs from the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E by explicitly prioritizing abstinence-based treatment, prosecutorial diversion programs, and more general opioid-related law enforcement expenditures.[6]

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

Parishes decide autonomously (but must report to the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force and Opioid Abatement Administration Corporation). Decisionmakers for the state’s 64 parishes will ultimately decides specific expenditures for themselves, but they must report their expenditures to the Task Force and OAAC to receive their funds.[7]

The was created in 2021 to advise the state Attorney General, parishes, and municipalities on settlement spending priorities.[8] Subsequent agreements have delegated the Task Force’s program administration duties to the Opioid Abatement Administration Corporation (OAAC),[9] which acts as the “conduit” for distributions of funds to parishes and sheriffs.[10]

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Louisiana does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that counties, cities, and towns may spend their shares ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Up to each locality (no public reporting required, only intrastate). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share. Though parishes are required to report expenditures to the state,[11] these reports are not publicly accessible.[12]

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

Not applicable.

1. Louisiana State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. (allocating 80% to “local governments” other than Sheriffs), (providing for calculation of and payments to parishes), (defining “local government(s)” to mean, in part, “all parishes [and] incorporated municipalities”), (defining parish). See also , Slide 15 (“Key Provision of CEA”). Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force and Louisiana Opioid Abatement Administration Corporation. August 3, 2023. Accessed August 13, 2024 (“All 64 parishes receive direct distribution of $$$”). ↑

2. These are “Qualified Parishes,” “Lead Parishes,” and “Other Parishes.” Qualified Parishes (i.e., East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, and Orleans) are parishes with populations of at least 300,000 individuals. Louisiana State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. . “Lead Parishes” are the parishes designated in of Louisiana’s opioid settlement Memorandum of Understanding. Louisiana State-Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. . “Other Parishes” include the remaining 52 non-qualified, non-lead parishes. Id. ↑