How to Use the Opioid Settlement Tracker to Hold Local Officials Accountable

Hold Local Officials Accountable: Use the Opioid Settlement Tracker to Follow the Money

Struggling to see how your county spent opioid settlement dollars? You are not alone. Across the U.S., local officials received billions in settlement funds intended to curb the addiction crisis — but reporting is inconsistent, budgets are opaque, and decisions are being made without public oversight. This guide gives a step-by-step tutorial for using the Opioid Settlement Tracker, the exact data points to inspect, Freedom of Information requests you can file today, and how to turn spreadsheet numbers into effective advocacy.

Why this matters now (2026 outlook)

By early 2026 the national conversation has shifted from “how much” to “how well” settlement dollars are used. More than a decade of litigation produced upward of $50 billion intended for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and community recovery. However, as late 2025 reporting audits and investigative reporting showed, many local governments treated these payments as flexible revenue — funding law enforcement equipment, capital projects, or plugging short-term budget gaps rather than scaling evidence-based care.

That mismatch makes data transparency and local watchdog work essential. The Opioid Settlement Tracker (a collaboration between major public-health organizations and reporting groups) is the best centralized tool to start. But a tracker alone won’t change outcomes — community advocates must translate numbers into public records requests, council pressure, and measurable program demands.

Quick overview: What the Opioid Settlement Tracker gives you

• Allocation lists: Which counties and municipalities are slated to receive payments, and projected payment schedules.
• Reported uses: Categories assigned to spending (e.g., prevention, treatment, law enforcement, abatement, general revenue).
• Reporting status: Which jurisdictions have submitted expenditure reports and what they contain.
• Downloadable data: CSV or spreadsheets for comparative analysis by state, per-capita allocations, and year-by-year flows.

Step-by-step: Using the Opioid Settlement Tracker

Step 1 — Start with your place

1. Open the tracker and use the search box to type your county or municipality name.
2. Note total settlement dollars allocated and the payment schedule (lump sum or annual installments).
3. Download the jurisdiction-specific CSV if available — this will be the base file for your analysis.

Step 2 — Capture the baseline metrics

Record the following fields immediately into a simple spreadsheet:

• Total settlement amount to jurisdiction
• Number of expected payment years
• Per-capita settlement amount (Total ÷ population)
• Reported category breakdown (prevention, treatment, law enforcement, abatement, administration, general revenue)
• Reporting status (No report, Partial, Full) and date of last update

Step 3 — Compare against peers

Use the tracker’s comparison tools to place your jurisdiction in context:

• Per-capita dollars vs. neighboring counties
• Percent allocated to evidence-based interventions vs. law enforcement
• Reporting completeness (e.g., % of scheduled payments accounted for in public reports)

Step 4 — Drill into reported line items

When a jurisdiction has filed a spending report, examine line items closely. Look for:

• Project descriptions with dates and specific deliverables
• Vendor names and amounts
• Metrics for program success (e.g., number enrolled in MAT, naloxone distributed, beds added)
• Contract length and performance clauses

Step 5 — Export and visualize

Download the data and create two quick visuals:

1. Pie chart of budget categories — shows allocation priorities at a glance.
2. Yearly bar chart of spending vs. scheduled payments — highlights delays or front-loading.

Key data points to monitor (and why they matter)

Not all line items are equally important for public health impact. Focus on the following:

• Evidence-based treatment funding: Dollars explicitly for medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), outpatient treatment expansion, recovery housing, and workforce development. See commentary on representation and clinical framing in coverage like ‘She’s a Different Doctor’.
• Prevention and harm reduction: Syringe services, naloxone distribution, fentanyl test strip programs, school-based education with evaluation plans.
• Abatement and remediation: Services for communities disproportionately affected (safe disposal, environmental remediation tied to manufacturer liability).
• Law enforcement spending: Equipment purchases, overtime, or programs without clear public health linkage — frequent red flag.
• Revenue replacement/plugging budget gaps: Any use of settlement funds to make up for shortfalls in general budgets rather than new program investments.
• Performance metrics: Targets for reach (number served), outcomes (treatment retention, overdose reversals), and independent evaluation plans.

Red flags that demand action

• Large allocations labeled "public safety" or "law enforcement" without program details or outcome measures.
• Funds used for unrelated capital projects (e.g., road resurfacing) labeled as abatement without clear nexus to the opioid crisis.
• No reporting for two or more scheduled payment years.
• Contracts awarded with no competitive process or sole-source justifications.
• Vague program descriptions — "community outreach" or "education" with no scope, timeline, or measurable goals.

Filing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests: a practical toolkit

When the tracker raises questions, FOI requests are the next practical step. Use these templates and a prioritized list of documents to obtain the facts.

What to request first (priority documents)

1. Settlement allocation letters and distribution schedules received from the state/settlement administrator.
2. All expenditure reports filed by the county/municipality referencing the opioid settlement (including attachments).
3. Contracts, purchase orders, invoices, and proof-of-payment for items charged to settlement funds.
4. Meeting minutes and presentations where council/board approved settlement spending (budget resolutions and roll-call votes).
5. Scope-of-work and performance reports for vendors receiving >$5,000.
6. Communications (emails/memos) between finance, public health, and law-enforcement leadership about settlement usage.
7. Any internal evaluations, audits, or program performance reviews tied to settlement-funded programs.

Sample FOI request language (copy and adapt)

To: [Records Custodian/FOI Officer]
Date: [today’s date]
Subject: Public Records Request — Opioid Settlement Funds
Pursuant to [state public records law citation], please provide copies of the following records for [jurisdiction name] from [start date of settlement payments] to present:

1. All settlement allocation letters, payment schedules, and related correspondence from state or national settlement administrators referencing opioid settlement funds.
2. All expenditure reports and attachments submitted to any state or federal agency that identify use of opioid settlement funds.
3. Contracts, purchase orders, invoices, and proof-of-payment for expenditures charged to the opioid settlement fund, regardless of dollar amount.
4. Meeting minutes, agendas, and recorded votes where opioid settlement fund allocation or use was discussed or approved by [county/municipal governing body].
5. All emails, memos, or interagency communications between [finance department], [public health department], [law enforcement agency], or vendors discussing or advising the use of opioid settlement funds.

If any portion of a document is exempt from disclosure, please provide a redacted copy and cite the statutory basis for the redaction. If fees apply, please advise before complying. I request expedited processing due to public interest in governmental spending of settlement funds.

FOI strategy tips

• Ask for metadata (dates, senders/recipients) for emails so you can map communications.
• Use specific date ranges and search terms ("opioid", "settlement", "Janssen", "McKinsey", "abatement", "SUD") to avoid overly broad denials.
• If denied, request a written explanation citing the statute and prepare to appeal; many denials can be overturned on narrow procedural grounds.

Translating numbers into advocacy actions

Raw data becomes leverage when paired with clear asks and public pressure. Here’s a stepwise advocacy playbook tied to the data you collected.

1. Build the narrative — create a one-page summary

Turn your spreadsheet into a one-page factsheet with three parts: Allocation summary, Red flags, and Your requested actions. Use visuals (pie chart, bar of spending vs. schedule) and keep it under one page for council packets and reporters.

2. Make specific, measurable demands

Vague criticism is easy to dismiss. Instead, ask for precise remedies:

• Adopt a spending plan that commits at least 60% of funds to evidence-based treatment and harm reduction within 18 months.
• Publish monthly online reporting dashboards with vendor names, line-item expenditures, and performance metrics.
• Create an independent citizen oversight committee including people with lived experience to review contracts over $25,000.
• Pause procurement of any law-enforcement equipment >$10,000 until the spending plan is publicly vetted.

3. Use the FOI returns to demand transparency

When agencies produce contracts or emails that raise questions, take the next steps:

• File a formal request to place the issue on the next council/board agenda.
• Request a public hearing with invited testimony from addiction medicine experts and recovery organizations.
• Publish your FOI findings with local media and share them on social platforms; journalists often amplify the issue quickly.

4. Translate dollars into services — a quick calculation

Use simple math to make a compelling case to officials and reporters. Example:

• If your county (population 100,000) receives $5 million total over 18 years, that equals $50 per resident or about $278,000 per year if amortized equally.
• Evidence: Cost estimates show that establishing a single outpatient clinic with MAT capacity and counseling services can cost between $200,000–$500,000 to operate in the first year (varies by region). That means a county could fund a clinic and targeted naloxone distribution with a sustainable portion of annual settlement dollars.

Presenting that math — dollars per resident and the plausible program mix — turns abstract sums into concrete options like “open a 24/7 low-barrier MOUD clinic” or “fund X recovery housing units.”

5. Build a coalition and escalate strategically

Numbers carry more weight when backed by a broad local coalition: clinicians, recovery advocates, family groups, faith leaders, and business owners. Your escalation ladder might be:

1. Formal letter from coalition to county executive asking for public meeting
2. Public hearing with expert witnesses and people with lived experience
3. Media release and op-ed if officials do not commit to changes in 30 days
4. Petition to state attorney general or auditor asking for a program audit if misuse is evident

See examples of community organizing and local event playbooks in resources like Turning Pop‑Ups into Neighborhood Anchors for ideas on coalition mobilization and public meetings.

Advanced strategies and 2026 trends to watch

As of 2026, three key trends affect how advocates can succeed:

• State-level transparency laws are increasing. Several states adopted stricter reporting rules in 2024–2025; advocates should push their state legislatures to require standardized dashboards and performance metrics.
• Data standardization initiatives. National public-health groups are moving toward standard line-item taxonomies for settlement reporting. Advocates should request machine-readable exports to enable automated monitoring.
• Focus on outcomes over inputs. Donors and watchdogs now demand evidence of reduced overdoses, increased treatment retention, and improved social outcomes — not just invoices. Request evaluation plans and insist on independent third-party evaluation for larger contracts.

Real-world example (hypothetical, instructive)

In a midwestern county, the tracker showed $8 million allocated but only two line-item reports for the first two years. The breakdown showed 40% labeled as "public safety." A local coalition filed FOI requests and discovered three sole-source contracts to the sheriff’s office for surveillance equipment. They used the returned invoices to demand a public hearing, brought in addiction-treatment experts to propose an alternative: two MOUD clinics plus community naloxone and outreach for the same price. The county paused the equipment purchases, established a citizen oversight group, and reallocated funds within six months. That example shows the sequential pattern: identify via tracker → request records → publicize findings → demand a vote → propose concrete alternatives.

Templates and quick resources (copy/paste friendly)

• FOI Request Template: (See sample language above.)
• One-Page Factsheet Template: Cover page with total dollars, per-capita, percent to treatment vs. law enforcement, and 3 concrete asks.
• Email Script to report findings to local press: Short subject line, three bullets with top-line data, and offer for interview.
• Suggested agenda item wording: “Consideration of opioid settlement fund spending plan and establishment of monthly public reporting dashboard.”

Legal and ethical considerations

Public records laws vary by state. Keep these points in mind:

• Record retention periods matter — request records back to the first settlement payment date.
• Some communications (internal deliberations, legal strategy) may be partially exempt — ask for redacted versions and appeal narrow denials.
• Avoid dishonesty: be transparent about who you represent when requesting records and in public testimony.

Measuring success: indicators your advocacy worked

Track these outcomes to know if your effort produced change:

• Adoption of a public dashboard with monthly updates
• Reallocation of funds toward evidence-based treatment and harm reduction
• Contracts put through competitive procurement with independent evaluation clauses
• Establishment of a citizen oversight committee with lived-experience members
• Published independent evaluation reports with measurable outcomes

Final checklist to start your campaign today

1. Use the Opioid Settlement Tracker to pull your jurisdiction’s allocation and reporting status.
2. Create a one-page snapshot showing per-capita dollars and allocation categories.
3. Send the FOI request template to your records officer requesting contracts, invoices, and emails.
4. Assemble a local coalition and request a public hearing within 30 days of FOI responses.
5. Prepare measurable demands (spending plan, dashboard, oversight committee) and a timeline for reporting.

Closing: from data to action

Data transparency is the prerequisite for accountable spending. The Opioid Settlement Tracker gives you the roadmap — but the next step is a simple set of actions: document, request, publicize, and demand measurable outcomes. In 2026 the tide is beginning to turn: standard reporting, outcome-focused evaluations, and stronger state rules are making it harder for funds to vanish into general budgets or unrelated purchases. Local watchdogs — families, clinicians, and community groups — are the enforcement mechanism. Use the tracker, file the FOI requests, and convert those numbers into real services that reduce harm and save lives.

Take action now: Pull your county report from the Opioid Settlement Tracker, file the FOI template above, and share your findings with local media and a recovery-focused coalition. If you want templates, evaluation checklists, or a review of your FOI responses, sign up for our newsletter or contact our advocacy desk to get personalized support.

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