Maine’s Opioid Settlements

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

Total Funds

$236.35 million[1]

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[1] Total is rounded. See The Official Opioid Settlement Tracker Tally. Accessed September 1, 2024.

Allocation

50% to the Maine Recovery Fund, 30% to local governments, and 20% to the state

Mechanism

State-Local Agreements (Amended Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds; Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding use of Settlement Funds-2023; Maine School Administrative Units’ Inclusion in Maine’s Recovery Fund-2022; Maine School Administrative Units’ Inclusion in Maine’s Recovery Fund-2023); Legislation (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Secs. 203-B, 203-C); Bylaws (Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council)

	50% Maine Recovery Fund Share	30% Local Share	20% State Share
Ultimate Decisionmaker	Maine Recovery Council	Local officials for towns, cities, and counties	Maine Attorney General
Decision-making Process	The Maine Recovery Council independently decides how to spend funds from this share after considering input and recommendations from its Program/Grants Committee, a biennial needs assessment, and public meetings.	Localities decide autonomously	Maine Attorney General decides autonomously
Supplantation	Prohibited	Discouraged but not prohibited	Discouraged but not prohibited
Grant Funding	Yes. See the Maine Recovery Council’s website.	Up to each locality (availability and processes will vary)	No
Public Input	Yes (Maine Recovery Council is required to host an annual public forum and consult the public on its needs assessment)	Up to each locality (not required)	No opportunities available (not required)
Advisory Body	Yes (required). See the Maine Recovery Council. It is unclear whether the Council is required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience. The Attorney General is required by MOU to appoint an individual or family member “impacted by the Opioid Crisis,” as well as an individual with “substance use disorder and recovery community experience.” There is no further elaboration on how “impacted by” and “experience” are understood or defined.	Up to each locality (not required)	No (not required)
Expenditures	Public reporting required. View the Maine Attorney General’s Recovery Fund reports here.	Neither public nor intrastate reporting required	Neither public nor intrastate reporting required
Updates	For updates on the state share, visit the Maine Recovery Council’s website and subscribe to its email notifications. The Maine Attorney General’s Opioids website also contains a calendar of the state’s opioid settlement-related meetings and events, and a linked FAQs page directs questions about the Council to [e-mail].	The Maine Attorney General suggests that the “best way to find out about what your community is doing with its settlement funds is to call your county administrators, or if your city or town is a participating subdivision[,] … the city or town office” and provides a list of participating subdivisions and contact information. See also individual localities' opioid settlement-specific websites, e.g., Cumberland County and Franklin County.	A single resource containing updates specific to the state share could not be found. For general updates, See the Maine Attorney General’s Opioids website.