Mississippi Today

The Black Box: Inside Mississippi’s Opioid Settlement Spending

Allen Siegler

Mississippi has been paid tens of millions of dollars from lawsuit settlements each year since 2022. The money is meant to go toward the state’s response to the overdose public health crisis. But in 2025, Mississippi Today found that the towns and cities across the state control about 15% of those funds, and the money was being spent with almost no public knowledge. 

Allen Siegler discovered that less than $1 million, which was also less than 1% of the money received at that point, was spent on direct measures to prevent more drug deaths. The investigation led to immediate impacts, including course correction by local governments that began spending the opioid settlement money the way they were supposed to, funding drug courts, youth intervention programs and treatment centers — efforts that could eventually save lives.

The investigation, driven by records requests, yielded data readers could use to better understand how the opioid settlement funds were being used in their community, judges said.

“The approach requires a lot of work, but the methodology — following the money via public records requests — is fairly straightforward. Judges appreciated the unfussy databases and maps, and the equally unfussy vertical video summary. These strategies showed a willingness to consider all the ways audiences might interact with the material.”

Read the Winning Work

Mississippi Today opens ‘black box’ of opioid settlement spending Sept. 15, 2025

Mississippi cities and counties, lacking state guidance, spend millions of opioid settlement dollars on general expenses Sept. 15, 2025

‘They’re sitting on money while people die’: Mississippi is years behind other states in using opioid settlements to address addiction Sept. 18, 2025

Some cities, counties direct opioid funds toward addressing addiction following Mississippi Today investigation Oct. 2, 2025

Legislators working to keep local opioid settlement money from being misspent Feb. 16, 2026