Spencer County fiscal court authorizes moving forward on One Kentucky opioid settlement memorandum
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Summary
Spencer County Fiscal Court voted July 21 to authorize signing a memorandum of understanding to participate in the One Kentucky Opioid Settlement framework, which outlines a 50/50 split between the Commonwealth and local governments and establishes trustee, reporting and fee-allocation rules.
Spencer County Fiscal Court voted July 21 to authorize the county to proceed with a memorandum of understanding tied to a proposed multijurisdictional opioid settlement. County Attorney Ken Jones told the court the MOU lays out how settlement proceeds would be divided and governed if the Commonwealth of Kentucky and participating local governments reach a final deal.
The MOU specifies that Opioid Funds would be split 50% to the Commonwealth and 50% to participating local governments, with a trustee and reporting requirements to oversee disbursement. The document also contemplates a Local Government Fee and Expense Fund—funded at 15.96% of each payment to the state share—to compensate local plaintiffs’ counsel, with limits on contingency recovery and a reversion of unused funds back to local governments.
Judge Executive John Riley moved to authorize the county to sign the resolution; Esq. Beaverson seconded the motion, which passed with all members present voting Aye. County Attorney Ken Jones said the resolution would allow the county’s participation to be presented to a federal judge and would help determine amounts passed through to the county from any national settlement.
The MOU requires annual reporting by participating local governments and allows the attorney general or a trustee to seek injunctions or accountings if funds are used for non-approved purposes. It also sets modest trustee compensation and authorizes reasonable trustee expenses (up to 0.005% of Opioid Funds) and establishes default allocation formulas if counties and their cities cannot agree on splits.
Next steps noted by the court include executing the county’s resolution and following the state’s public reporting schedule; the MOU itself states any final settlement allocation will require subsequent acceptance by the Commonwealth and each participating local government.
The court did not set an implementation date for disbursements; the resolution authorizes the county to participate in the negotiation framework but does not yet allocate any settlement dollars locally.