Tens of billions of dollars are being paid to states from some of the country’s largest opioid distributing and manufacturing companies, the result of lawsuits that accused the companies of enabling a catastrophic overdose death crisis. Every state — usually the attorney general — decides who gets the money, how it’s allowed to be spent and whether the families most impacted by addiction can know or advise how the dollars are spent.

When the first opioid settlements were being finalized in 2021, Mississippi’s main decision maker, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, asked the state’s towns, cities and counties to sign on to an agreement to join the lawsuits. The agreement says local governments receive 15% of Mississippi’s total share, and their elected officials can spend the money like any othe

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