Audit: $98.5M in Louisiana opioid settlement funds distributed to parishes, sheriffs
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Auditors released a report showing the amount Louisiana parishes and sheriff's offices have received and spent from opioid settlement funds to combat the overdose epidemic.
Louisiana's health department reported a total of 1,083 opioid-involved deaths in 2023. Parishes with the highest number of opioid deaths between 2019 and 2023 were identified as Jefferson, St. Tammany, Lafayette, Livingston, and Orleans.
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According to the report, Louisiana is involved in 15 settlements resulting in $600 million in funds meant to be distributed between 2022 through 2038 to fight the overdose epidemic. The Louisiana Opiod Abatement Taskforce (LaOATF) has distributed $98.5 million to parishes and sheriffs as of October 2024 for treatment and prevention. Auditors' survey identified that 20 parishes and 24 sheriffs have spent $8.6 million as of September 2024.
'Some parishes and sheriffs have not yet spent any of their funds,' according to auditors.
The report states no entity has been tasked with enforcing the terms of the settlement agreements, including payment amounts and approved uses, for Louisiana. Auditors said Louisiana's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) doesn't give the task force the authority to ensure parishes and sheriffs comply with the MOU.
The MOU requires parishes to submit an annual expenditure report to LaOATF. Thirty-six of the 53 expenditure reports due were reportedly given to the task force as of December 2024. Annual reports are due 15 months after a parish gets settlement funds.
While sheriffs are not required to give an annual report, 11 sheriffs who responded to the survey said they plan to publicly report expenditures.
Auditors recommended that LaOATF should ensure parishes submit reports in a timely manner, amend the MOU to require sheriffs to submit annual reports like parishes, and include results from spending in its annual report. LaOATF agreed with all auditors' recommendations.
The first annual report from the task force is set to be completed by the end of May of this year.
The table below shows the amount of opioid settlement funds distributed to parishes and sheriffs in the Baton Rouge area from 2023 to 2024 as of October 2024.
Parish
Parish funds
Sheriff funds
Ascension
$1,836,423
$459,106
Assumption
$299,328
$74,832
East Baton Rouge
$7,434,682
$1,858,670
East Feliciana
$210,340
$52,585
Iberville
$566,298
$141,575
Livingston
$4,020,714
$1,005,179
Pointe Coupee
$315,508
$78,877
St. Helena
$161,799
$40,451
West Baton Rouge
$428,769
$107,191
West Feliciana
$177,980
$44,494
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Audit: $98.5M in Louisiana opioid settlement funds distributed to parishes, sheriffs
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