Kentucky Statutes 15.293 – Opioid abatement trust fund
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(1) As used in this section, “commission” means the Kentucky Opioid Abatement
Advisory Commission created in KRS § 15.291.
(2) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a trust and agency account to be known as the opioid abatement trust fund. Moneys in the fund are hereby appropriated for the purposes set forth in KRS § 15.291, distributed as described in subsection (3) of this section, and shall not be appropriated or transferred by the General Assembly for any other purposes.
(3) The fund shall consist of:
(a) Fifty percent (50) of all proceeds received by the Commonwealth, counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in any settlement or judgment or bankruptcy proceeding against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health 5, LLC, Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, and any named defendant in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No.
2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and any of their affiliates or subsidiaries related to opioid manufacturing or distribution to the extent included in a settlement agreement; and
(b) Any other moneys received from state appropriations, gifts, grants, or federal funds.
(4) (a) The fund shall not consist of the remaining fifty percent (50) of all proceeds received by the Commonwealth, counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in any settlement or judgment or bankruptcy proceeding against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health 5, LLC, Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, and any named defendant in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No.
2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and any of their affiliates or subsidiaries related to opioid manufacturing or distribution to the extent included in a settlement agreement.
(b) The remaining fifty percent (50) of all proceeds not included in the fund shall be paid to counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in accordance with the negotiation class distribution metrics established in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. To the extent that the negotiation class distribution metrics would result in a city receiving a sum total of less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) in any individual settlement, judgment, or bankruptcy proceeding, such payments shall be made to the county, consolidated local government, or urban-county government in which that city sits.
(c) 1. Each recipient of moneys from the fund shall submit on an annual basis a certification that the funds were used consistent with the criteria in KRS § 15.291(5), a description of the use of such funds, and such other information as the commission requests through
administrative regulation.
2. a. Each county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or city of the Commonwealth that receives any proceeds under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall submit, on an annual basis a certification that the funds were used consistent with the criteria in KRS § 15.291(5), a list of fund recipients and amounts, a description of the use of the funds, and any other information as the commission requests through the promulgation of an administrative regulation.
b. If a trustee is appointed under paragraph (b) of this subsection, the certifications shall be sent to the trustee, and the trustee will compile and submit one (1) report to the commission.
c. If a trustee is not appointed, the certifications shall be submitted to the commission as provided by administrative regulation.
d. Funds shall be withheld from any county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or city of the Commonwealth that does not comply with this paragraph until such time as compliance is achieved.
(d) To the extent that a settlement has been reached in any litigation against the companies listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection, each county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, city, political subdivision, and public agency, as that term is defined in KRS § 61.805(2), of the Commonwealth shall be deemed to have released its claims against the companies listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection and their affiliates and subsidiaries to the extent referenced in a settlement agreement, consent judgment, order, or other document that reflects the terms of any settlement.
(5) Amounts deposited in the fund shall be used only for the purposes described in
KRS § 15.291.
(6) Notwithstanding KRS § 45.229, moneys in the fund not expended at the close of a fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward into the next fiscal year.
(7) Any interest earnings of the fund shall become a part of the fund and shall not lapse.
(8) Moneys in the fund shall be distributed no less than annually.
(9) (a) The Department of Law may recover its reasonable costs of litigation from the moneys received under subsection (3)(a) of this section.
(b) The Department of Law may recover any direct costs, including employee time, used to perform or administer the duties required by this section and KRS § 15.291 from the moneys received under subsection (3)(a) of this section. The Department of Law shall report all such recovered costs to the commission no less than annually.
(10) The commission shall continue to make distributions from the fund as long as defendants in the opioid litigation make payments to the Commonwealth or until the time that the moneys in the fund are exhausted.
Effective:April 26, 2022
History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 240, sec. 1, effective April 26, 2022. — Created 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 113, sec. 2, effective March 24, 2021.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/26/2022). The language in subsection (4)(d) of this statute has been modified in codification from the way it was enacted in order to reflect the Governor sline-item veto of 2022 House Bill 92 (2022 Ky. Acts ch. 240, sec. 1).
Advisory Commission created in KRS § 15.291.
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 15.293
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- City: includes town. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
- Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
(2) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a trust and agency account to be known as the opioid abatement trust fund. Moneys in the fund are hereby appropriated for the purposes set forth in KRS § 15.291, distributed as described in subsection (3) of this section, and shall not be appropriated or transferred by the General Assembly for any other purposes.
(3) The fund shall consist of:
(a) Fifty percent (50) of all proceeds received by the Commonwealth, counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in any settlement or judgment or bankruptcy proceeding against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health 5, LLC, Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, and any named defendant in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No.
2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and any of their affiliates or subsidiaries related to opioid manufacturing or distribution to the extent included in a settlement agreement; and
(b) Any other moneys received from state appropriations, gifts, grants, or federal funds.
(4) (a) The fund shall not consist of the remaining fifty percent (50) of all proceeds received by the Commonwealth, counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in any settlement or judgment or bankruptcy proceeding against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health 5, LLC, Amerisourcebergen Drug Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, and any named defendant in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No.
2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and any of their affiliates or subsidiaries related to opioid manufacturing or distribution to the extent included in a settlement agreement.
(b) The remaining fifty percent (50) of all proceeds not included in the fund shall be paid to counties, consolidated local governments, urban-county governments, and cities of the Commonwealth in accordance with the negotiation class distribution metrics established in In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804, Case No. 1:17-md-02804, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. To the extent that the negotiation class distribution metrics would result in a city receiving a sum total of less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) in any individual settlement, judgment, or bankruptcy proceeding, such payments shall be made to the county, consolidated local government, or urban-county government in which that city sits.
(c) 1. Each recipient of moneys from the fund shall submit on an annual basis a certification that the funds were used consistent with the criteria in KRS § 15.291(5), a description of the use of such funds, and such other information as the commission requests through
administrative regulation.
2. a. Each county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or city of the Commonwealth that receives any proceeds under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall submit, on an annual basis a certification that the funds were used consistent with the criteria in KRS § 15.291(5), a list of fund recipients and amounts, a description of the use of the funds, and any other information as the commission requests through the promulgation of an administrative regulation.
b. If a trustee is appointed under paragraph (b) of this subsection, the certifications shall be sent to the trustee, and the trustee will compile and submit one (1) report to the commission.
c. If a trustee is not appointed, the certifications shall be submitted to the commission as provided by administrative regulation.
d. Funds shall be withheld from any county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, or city of the Commonwealth that does not comply with this paragraph until such time as compliance is achieved.
(d) To the extent that a settlement has been reached in any litigation against the companies listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection, each county, consolidated local government, urban-county government, city, political subdivision, and public agency, as that term is defined in KRS § 61.805(2), of the Commonwealth shall be deemed to have released its claims against the companies listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection and their affiliates and subsidiaries to the extent referenced in a settlement agreement, consent judgment, order, or other document that reflects the terms of any settlement.
(5) Amounts deposited in the fund shall be used only for the purposes described in
KRS § 15.291.
(6) Notwithstanding KRS § 45.229, moneys in the fund not expended at the close of a fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward into the next fiscal year.
(7) Any interest earnings of the fund shall become a part of the fund and shall not lapse.
(8) Moneys in the fund shall be distributed no less than annually.
(9) (a) The Department of Law may recover its reasonable costs of litigation from the moneys received under subsection (3)(a) of this section.
(b) The Department of Law may recover any direct costs, including employee time, used to perform or administer the duties required by this section and KRS § 15.291 from the moneys received under subsection (3)(a) of this section. The Department of Law shall report all such recovered costs to the commission no less than annually.
(10) The commission shall continue to make distributions from the fund as long as defendants in the opioid litigation make payments to the Commonwealth or until the time that the moneys in the fund are exhausted.
Effective:April 26, 2022
History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 240, sec. 1, effective April 26, 2022. — Created 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 113, sec. 2, effective March 24, 2021.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/26/2022). The language in subsection (4)(d) of this statute has been modified in codification from the way it was enacted in order to reflect the Governor sline-item veto of 2022 House Bill 92 (2022 Ky. Acts ch. 240, sec. 1).