Board delegates authority to county administrator, corporation counsel to sign low-value opioid settlements

The Rock County Board of Supervisors voted to delegate authority to the county administrator and corporation counsel to enter into settlement agreements with remaining opioid litigation defendants, a move intended to streamline processing of expected low-value, formula-driven settlements. The motion, made by Supervisor Gorman and seconded by Supervisor Wilson, passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. Corporation Counsel explained the county’s participation in national opioid litigation and said Wisconsin law prescribes settlement allocation: 30% of funds go to the state and 70% to participating local municipalities after a 20% attorney-fee trust is taken from the total settlement. Counsel said that percentage division and a statewide memorandum of understanding fix each municipality’s share and will apply to the remaining settlements expected over the next 12 to 18 months. Given the predictable allocation structure and relatively small value of many forthcoming settlements, the counsel said it was inefficient to bring each settlement individually to the board; the approved resolution delegates settlement-signing authority to permit timely acceptance of payments that conform to the statutory formula and the statewide MOU. No change to programmatic spending rules for opioid abatement funds was made at the meeting; the resolution dealt only with authority to execute settlement agreements. The board did not discuss specific settlement amounts or defendants during the meeting and no funds were accepted on the floor; the action was procedural to allow staff to complete formula-driven settlements without repeated board resolutions.