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Louisiana will receive millions in opioid settlement funds over the next decade, according to an audit released by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. It also says the state has not lived up to its expectations in enforcing how these funds are utilized. 

The new audit recommends strengthening oversight of the state’s opioid task force to monitor the funds. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor on Monday said millions of dollars from the state’s portion of the opioid settlement fund remain unspent amid the ongoing opioid crisis. 

The audit shows that the River Region Parishes—St Charles, St James, and St John the Baptist—have received opioid settlement funds of $2.27 million, which were distributed to the parishes and the sheriff’s office in each parish between 2023 and 2024, as of October 2024. 

A record of the breakdown of the opioid settlement funds to St John the Baptist Parish indicates that $639,107 was disbursed to the parish, while the Sheriff’s office received $159,776.

St. Charles Parish received the largest share of the opioid settlement fund, totaling $946,526, while the Sheriff’s Office received $236,632. St James Parish was allocated $234,609, and its Sheriff’s office got $58,652.

By law, the money must support evidence-based programs to fight drug addiction. That includes drug courts, addiction treatment, Narcan distribution, school education, first responder training, and community outreach.

There is some flexibility in how the money can be used, but it must focus on helping people with substance use disorders. The Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force advises on fund usage and cannot ensure that sheriff’s offices and local agencies are using the funds as intended.

“We have not found any evidence of non-compliance,” said Emily Dixon, who managed the audit. “But we just felt that moving forward, having somebody in that responsibility role could prevent any funds from being spent outside of the approved methods.”

Louisiana will receive about $600 million from 2022 to 2038. This opioid settlement money comes from a class-action lawsuit against drug companies, which were blamed for helping cause the opioid crisis.

Each state decides how to spend its share. In Louisiana, 20% goes to sheriff’s offices and 80% goes to parishes.

Only Louisiana and Georgia give part of this money directly to sheriffs. Louisiana is also one of the few states that does not offer any money to the state government.

The task force stated that opioid settlement funds were distributed to parishes and sheriffs because they incurred the costs of combating the epidemic. According to the audit, these local governments were the first parties to sue pharmaceutical companies. However, the audit found that the money is not being spent or tracked, and in some cases, recipients are uncertain about how to use it.

As of October 2024, the task force had distributed approximately $98.5 million to parishes and sheriffs. However, auditors found that the actual spending was significantly lower. 

A survey conducted as part of the audit revealed that, as of September 2024, only $8.6 million had been spent by 20 parishes and 24 sheriffs combined. 

This is an ongoing story