The Grand Forks City Council Committee of the Whole voted unanimously Monday to authorize city finance staff to execute documents joining revised national opioid litigation settlements tied to Purdue Pharma LP’s bankruptcy and a separate settlement with several small generic opioid manufacturers. The vote followed a presentation from the city’s lead counsel in the litigation and comments from city staff about how previous settlement funds have been used.

The settlements include a revised Purdue and Sackler-family agreement and a multi-defendant deal with smaller generic manufacturers. Alicia Begg, an attorney with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP who has represented Grand Forks in the litigation, summarized the agreements and advised the committee that the city should participate. “So the point being that there’s really no downside to signing onto those settlements,” Begg said, adding that the amounts will be distributed among all eligible states and local governments.

The revised Purdue/Sackler settlement calls for the Sackler family to pay up to $6.5 billion in 16 payments over 15 years and for Purdue to pay an additional $900 million; the settlement also includes injunctive relief. The separate agreement with multiple small generic manufacturers totals roughly $1.1 billion in cash and pharmaceutical products such as naloxone (Narcan). Begg emphasized that those totals must be allocated across all participating governments nationwide, and that Grand Forks’ final share will depend on the state’s allocation and how many local governments in North Dakota elect to participate.

City staff provided local context. Marie Storestead told the committee that, since 2022, the city has received roughly $309,000 in opioid-settlement funds from earlier agreements. Tess Wall, who described the city’s spending plan, said the council-approved 2023 spending plan has guided disbursements into Fund 02/1946 and into initiatives such as integrating a community mental-health coordinator position into public health and supporting prevention programming. “We are instituting the spending plan that you all approved back in 2023,” Wall said. She said the coordinator position’s responsibilities have shifted toward prevention and community integration.

Committee members asked how much the new settlements might yield locally. Begg provided a national-to-state rough estimate: if contingencies are met, approximately $8.7 million could flow to North Dakota from the Purdue settlement, with 15% of that sum earmarked for subdivisions (cities and counties) and Grand Forks receiving a pro rata share; the multi-defendant settlement’s national total of about $740 million could yield just over 0.5% to North Dakota, with 15% of that state share then allocated to subdivisions. Begg stressed that precise local amounts were “not specified” and depend on allocation formulas and the number of participants.

After discussion, the committee followed staff and counsel recommendations and authorized City Finance to execute and submit the city’s participation documents for the Purdue bankruptcy plan and the other settlements. Osowski moved to approve the recommendation; Berg seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The committee did not set specific spending decisions for any future funds in this action; current policy for existing settlement proceeds remains the council-approved spending plan in Fund 02/1946. City staff said future distributions from the new settlements, if realized, would be returned to the council for appropriation under the established uses of settlement funds.

Background: Grand Forks and other jurisdictions have pursued opioid-related claims since 2016–2017; major distributor settlements were reached in 2021 and earlier manufacturer and pharmacy settlements were reached in 2023. Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and a prior proposed Purdue/Sackler settlement attracted legal challenges that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June directed parties to renegotiate. The revised agreements announced to the committee are the product of that renegotiation and nationwide participation by states and many local governments.

The committee’s authorization makes the city eligible to receive a portion of the national settlement payments if and when the distributions are finalized; the timing and exact amounts remain contingent on the bankruptcy and distribution processes and the number of participating local governments in North Dakota.