This 24.5% local share is distributed directly to participating counties, cities, villages, and towns according to the default allocations in Exhibit C of West Virginiaās MOU.[1] Counties and their municipalities can agree to allocate the funds differently than according to the default in Exhibit C.[2] Each county and municipality receiving funds is required to set up a separate account to hold their opioid settlement proceeds separate from their general coffers.[3]
In general,[4] this share must be spent on the approved purposes described in Exhibit A of West Virginiaās MOU,[5] which mirrors much of the national settlement agreementsā Exhibit E but differs from it in key respects, including but not limited to its omission of syringe service programs from its āCore Strategiesā list and the inclusion of an extra law enforcement category of funding to curtail the oversupply of ālicit and illicit opioids.ā[6]
Localities may use up to one-half of their settlements funds to reimburse for past abatement expenditures (including past ālaw enforcement and regional jail feesā), provided that these uses are recorded via resolution or similar government action.[7]
Local governments decide autonomously. Local officials in the counties, cities, villages, and towns will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on approved purposes but must report its uses to the West Virginia First Foundation.[8]
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, West Virginia does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the local share may be spent in ways that replace (or āsupplantā) ā rather than supplement ā existing resources.
Eventually (public reporting required). Expenditures from this share will likely be published on the Foundationās . State law and the MOU require local governments to submit an annual report to the West Virginia First Foundation specifying their expenditures on approved purposes.[9] The Foundation is then required to publish a consolidated report of opioid settlement expenditures.[10]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.comās for an updated collection of statesā and localitiesā available expenditure reports.
Not applicable.
(ā24.5% of the Net Opioid Funds shall be allocated as LG Shares. These LG Shares shall be allocated amongst the Local Governments using the default percentages set forth in Exhibit Cā) and W. Va. Code Sec. 5-31-1(d) (legislature finding that ā[a]ll 55 counties and virtually all participating municipalities, representing 99.6 percent of the population of West Virginia, have executed the memorandum of understandingā). See also (defining āLocal Government(s)ā to mean āall counties, cities, villages, and towns located within the geographic boundaries of the Stateā) and (āIf a Local Government for any reason is excluded from a specific Settlement or Judgment, the allocation percentage for that Local Government shall be redistributed among the participating Local Governments for that Settlement or Judgmentā). ā
. ā
. Accessed September 2, 2024 (requiring county commissions to create separate accounts at a public meeting) and
See, e.g., (āPayment of all Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Expenses shall be awarded consistent with the orders of the Court and upon recommendation of Judge Christopher Wilkes (WVMLP Special Master). Such award shall be final and non-appealableā). ā
(defining āApproved Purpose(s)ā to mean āevidence-based strategies, programming and/or services used to expand the availability of treatment for individuals affected by substance use disorders and/or addiction, to develop, promote and provide evidence-based substance use prevention strategies, to provide substance use avoidance and awareness education, to engage in enforcement to curtail the sale, distribution, promotion or use of opioids and other drugs, to decrease the oversupply of licit and illicit opioids and to support recovery from addiction to be performed by qualified providers as is further set forth in Exhibit A and Paragraph B(3)ā) and B.3 (āAll Net Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation, shall be used in a manner consistent with the Approved Purposes definitionā). ā
(āCore Strategiesā generally) and (āFunding for law enforcement efforts to curtail the sale, distribution, promotion or use of opioids and other drugs to reduce the oversupply of licit and illicit opioids, including regional jail feesā). Compare the national settlement agreementsā (āProvide comprehensive syringe services programs with more wrap-around services, including linkage to OUD treatment, access to sterile syringes and linkage to care and treatment of infectious diseasesā). ā
(āThe LG Share may be used as restitution for past expenditures so long as the past expenditures were made for purposes that would have qualified or were consistent with the categories of Approved Purposes listed in Exhibit A. Prior to using any portion of the LG Share as restitution for past expenditures, a Local Government shall pass a resolution or take equivalent governmental action detailing and explaining its use of the funds for restitution. Moreover, up to one-half of the LG Share may be used to provide restitution for monies that were previously expended on opioid abatement activities, including law enforcement and regional jail feesā). See, e.g., Toni Milbourne. . The Journal. April 16, 2024. Accessed September 2, 2024 (āAttorney Stephen Skinner also told commissioners that the memorandum of understanding they signed allows the [Jefferson County] commission to use the funds to āreimburseā themselves for past payments of Eastern Regional Jail fees. The explanation given for that use of the funds was that perhaps the county had to forgo given projects, because it had to pay required jail feesā). ā
(requiring local governments to spend their shares on approved purposes, decide their own intra-county allocations, decide reimbursement uses of funds, and otherwise providing for localitiesā ability to autonomously spend their shares). See also Attorney General Morrisey, Auditorās Office, Partner to Ensure Opioid Settlement Money Used Accordingly. Attorney General press release. December 21, 2023. Accessed September 2, 2024 (āLocal governments have broad discretion to decide which approved uses are best to spend their share of the settlement money. See, e.g., Eric Aryes. . The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register. May 17, 2024. Accessed September 2, 2024 (āāThe state of West Virginia received an opioid settlement of just under $1 billion, of which 22% was distributed to local cities and counties, for use a determined by the county commission ā or in this case ā city council,ā Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron saidā). ā
W. Va. Code Sec. 5-31-5(b) and . ā
W. Va. Code Sec. 5-31-5(b) and . ā