Clallam County reviews creation of special revenue fund for opioid‑settlement dollars; staff, advisory board options debated

Clallam County staff Monday recommended establishing a special revenue fund to track opioid‑settlement receipts and guide future allocations as multiple settlements and payments arrive over several years.

Health and Human Services staff said the county has received two settlement payments to date — about $285,175 in February 2023 and about $627,793 in December 2024 — for a total just under $913,000. Staff described the payments as part of multiple national and vendor settlements that may produce additional and varied payment schedules (lump sums, multi‑year streams, or other structures). Because of the restricted and programmatic nature of opioid‑abatement funds, staff said a dedicated special revenue fund will improve accounting, reporting and transparency and help avoid audit issues other jurisdictions have faced.

County staff and commissioners discussed where to “house” the fund administratively: Health & Human Services staff recommended the Behavioral Health Advisory Board provide oversight and recommendations, because that board already distributes some behavioral‑health and homelessness‑related funding and has experience with similar grant programs. Commissioners noted public‑safety, prosecution, jail and coroner impacts and asked that representatives of those departments and other local governments (tribal entities, City of Port Angeles, etc.) be involved in the advisory process or invited to joint meetings.

Staff and commissioners also discussed administrative capacity. Health & Human Services cautioned that administering a new fund and application process will require staff time; the staff and the Salish Behavioral Health ASO (the regional administrative services organization that helped manage the initial settlement distribution) could perform some reporting and administrative tasks but would charge for those services. Commissioners directed staff to bring the topic to the Board of Health for input and to prepare a proposed governance and accounting approach (special revenue fund setup, advisory committee scope, and whether internal county departments should be eligible to apply) for future action.

Staff estimated, based on current known settlements, that total county receipts from known settlements could approach $6,000,000 over time, but cautioned further litigation and settlement outcomes remain pending. Commissioners asked staff to return with an implementation plan, recommended governance structure, and a proposed approach to coordinate with other local governmental recipients and the regional ASO.