Louisiana Sheriffs Spent Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds on Police Gear, Investigation Finds

A joint investigation by KFF Health News and three Louisiana news outlets has revealed that Louisiana sheriffs have spent millions in opioid settlement funds on law enforcement equipment rather than addiction treatment and prevention services. The investigation, published August 27, 2026, found that of the $8.1 million in spending reported by 38 sheriffs, approximately 66% was deemed inappropriate by a three-person review panel for failing to address the addiction crisis.

The Investigation

The news organizations contacted all 64 Louisiana sheriffs over five months, often filing public records requests, to produce the first detailed accounting of how these funds are being spent. Louisiana is the only state directing 20% of its opioid settlement payouts to sheriffs — the largest carve-out for law enforcement nationwide.

Among the findings:

$5.4 million (about 66% of reported spending) was deemed inappropriate by the review panel, which included a Louisiana resident in recovery who lost his son to a fentanyl overdose, an addiction medicine doctor, and a public health policy analyst
$4.7 million (nearly 60% of reported spending) went to items that six other states have explicitly listed as "unallowable" for opioid settlement funds
Twenty sheriffs did not provide expenditure reports, leaving roughly $10.7 million hidden from public view
Only nine sheriffs had all their expenditures deemed appropriate, totaling nearly $1.8 million for addiction treatment in jails, overdose response training, and public awareness programs

Equipment vs. Treatment

The investigation revealed that much of the spending went to traditional law enforcement equipment rather than addiction-related services. Purchases included:

Flock cameras (automated license plate readers): $465,000 by Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office
Body and dash cameras: 130 body cameras and 50 dash cameras by Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office
Evidence storage safes and narcotics scanners for traffic divisions
Surveillance cameras and other crime-fighting technology

Sheriffs defended these purchases as necessary for disrupting drug trafficking. "Law enforcement has a different, but equally essential, responsibility: preventing those deadly drugs from reaching potential victims in the first place," wrote Casey Rayborn Hicks, spokesperson for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

However, the review panel — and addiction advocates — disagreed. "What's happening here is they have a lot of money and they want to distribute it to all the wrong places," said Danny Bolner Jr., a Jefferson Parish resident who has been in recovery for over two decades and lost his 28-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose in 2016.

Model Programs

The investigation also highlighted sheriffs who are using the funds as intended:

Acadia Parish Sheriff K.P. Gibson directed all his settlement cash to provide addiction treatment in jail. "I want people back into society, being productive," he said. Research consistently shows that providing medications for opioid use disorder behind bars reduces both recidivism and overdose deaths after release.

St. Martin Parish used funds to launch a specialized team of officers that connects people with substance use disorders to treatment and coordinates support services for family members. The program serves as a "broker" between people who need services and those who provide them.

Both sheriffs serve on the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force, the body meant to guide settlement spending — though the task force has no enforcement authority.

The Broader Context

Nationwide, opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are paying tens of billions of dollars in settlements for their role in fueling the overdose epidemic that has claimed more than one million lives since 2000. While the settlement agreements contain broad categories for allowable spending, few states have strict guardrails.

Six states have created lists of "unallowable" expenditures, including technology to extract data from cellphones and automated external defibrillators — items that Louisiana sheriffs purchased with settlement funds. The Louisiana state agreement allows "law enforcement expenditures relating to the opioid epidemic," but addiction experts argue that equipment purchases don't meet the spirit of the settlements.

"The impetus of this opioid settlement money is to spend on innovative ways to not let this happen again," said Tricia Christensen, a public health policy analyst and national opioid settlement expert who served on the review panel.

What Families Should Know

For Louisiana families affected by addiction, the investigation reveals a patchwork of approaches across parishes:

Treatment in jails is available in some parishes (like Acadia) but not others
No comprehensive database exists of which sheriffs are spending funds on addiction services versus enforcement
The Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force provides guidance but cannot require sheriffs to follow it
Public records may be necessary to determine how your parish is spending these funds

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, which covers an area just outside New Orleans and received the highest allocation — nearly $4 million through 2025 — did not respond to the investigation's requests for information.

What's Next

The investigation highlights ongoing tensions in Louisiana and nationwide about how opioid settlement funds should be used. As Purdue Pharma's $7.4 billion bankruptcy settlement and other agreements continue to pay out over the next decade, the debate over enforcement versus treatment approaches is likely to intensify.

For families seeking help, the SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) provides free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information services. Louisiana residents can also contact the Louisiana Opioid Abatement Task Force for information about local resources.

This article was based on reporting by KFF Health News in partnership with The Current, Gulf States Newsroom, and Verite News.