Kentucky Launches Online Dashboard to Track Opioid Settlement Fund Spending

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman unveiled a new online dashboard on July 10, 2026, designed to give residents unprecedented visibility into how the Commonwealth spends opioid settlement funds. Developed in partnership with the University of Kentucky's Rapid Actionable Data for Response (RADOR) team, the tool represents one of the most comprehensive transparency efforts among states receiving billions in pharmaceutical litigation payouts.

The dashboard, hosted by the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, aggregates data from local governments and state grant programs to show where settlement dollars flow and what outcomes they produce. The launch comes as Kentucky faces scrutiny over spending pace—recent analyses show only 10% of received funds have been disbursed despite the state's severe opioid crisis.

A Commitment to Transparency

"Across Kentucky, communities are investing in the three-legged stool of prevention, treatment and enforcement efforts to combat the drug crisis and to save lives," Coleman said at the commission's July meeting. "Now, every Kentuckian can see how these resources are being invested to promote best practices, innovative ideas and—above all—hope."

The tool builds on a reporting portal launched in July 2025 that requires local governments receiving settlement funds to submit annual reports detailing receipts, expenditures, and program activities. Under Kentucky law, these reports must be filed by August 31 each year, covering the previous fiscal year's spending.

Christopher Evans, director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, emphasized the dashboard's significance for accountability. "This is the first time we can accurately show what resources are coming into Kentucky to battle the opioid epidemic and how they are being used," Evans said. "This information will allow Kentuckians to maximize the opportunity we have before us to save lives and change the trajectory of substance misuse in the Commonwealth."

How the Dashboard Works

The RADOR team, based within the UK College of Public Health, developed the dashboard to translate complex financial and programmatic data into accessible visualizations. The platform combines local government expenditure reports with state-level grant funding data, presenting a unified view of settlement investments across Kentucky's 120 counties.

"Our partners within the commission have demonstrated a strong commitment to transparency, working with us every step of the way to ensure that the dashboard is accurate, easy-to-understand and useful," said Lindsey Hammerslag, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UK College of Public Health Department of Biostatistics and principal investigator on the project.

Data updates will occur at regular intervals, with new functionalities planned for rollout over the coming months. The commission has funded three RADOR contracts supporting the dashboard's development, with work beginning July 1, 2026.

The Scale of Kentucky's Settlement Funds

Kentucky stands to receive nearly $1 billion in opioid settlement funds from lawsuits against pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies found liable for fueling the state's addiction crisis. The attorney general's office controls roughly half of these funds, with the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission overseeing their allocation.

Since 2023, the commission has awarded 300 grants totaling $86.5 million to organizations throughout Kentucky. These investments span prevention programs, treatment expansion, recovery support services, and research initiatives. An additional $52.7 million has been directed to specific priorities including SB90 diversion programs and the "Better Without It" youth prevention campaign.

Recent Grant Awards

The commission announced several new grant awards beginning July 1, 2026, demonstrating the breadth of settlement-funded initiatives:

Prevention Programs:

• Melinda Ickes, College of Education: "#IChampionHealth Live Like a Champion"—expanding youth substance-use prevention for grades 4-8 through statewide regional train-the-trainer partnerships ($198,906)
• Aaron Brown, College of Social Work: "Stronger Together"—a prevention program for families of people who use drugs ($200,000)

Research and Innovation:

• Chris Delcher, College of Pharmacy: "Estimating Opioid Use Disorder in Kentucky Counties" ($514,194)
• Hannah Knudsen, College of Medicine: "SHIFT-CM"—implementation strategies for contingency management treating opioid and stimulant use disorders ($701,662)
• Gopalkumar Rakesh, College of Medicine: "Helping Kentuckians Overcome Opioid Addiction and Depression with Brain Stimulation" ($733,007)

Context: Spending Challenges

The dashboard launch arrives amid growing attention to Kentucky's settlement spending pace. A recent report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy found that 90% of funds distributed to local governments remain unspent three years after payments began. Of $122.4 million granted to 120 counties and 149 cities since 2022, only $12.6 million had been expended by the end of fiscal year 2025.

The analysis revealed significant variation in local capacity, with 51% of governments reporting zero expenditures. Some smaller jurisdictions have struggled to navigate compliance requirements and develop eligible programs, while others have faced delays in identifying appropriate implementation partners.

Advocates hope the new dashboard will address these challenges by highlighting successful programs and facilitating knowledge sharing between jurisdictions. The transparency tool may also help identify communities where technical assistance or direct state intervention could accelerate effective deployment.

National Implications

Kentucky's dashboard joins a growing movement toward settlement fund accountability. Colorado launched a similar tracking platform earlier this year through a partnership with University of Colorado Anschutz researchers, while other states have implemented varying levels of public reporting.

The $55 billion national opioid settlement represents a once-in-a-generation investment in addiction infrastructure, but concerns about diversion, ineffective spending, and lack of transparency have emerged across multiple jurisdictions. Kentucky's approach—combining mandatory local reporting with university-developed visualization tools—offers a potential model for other states seeking to balance local autonomy with public accountability.

For Kentuckians affected by the opioid crisis, the dashboard provides more than financial transparency. It offers a measure of accountability for a settlement intended to remediate decades of pharmaceutical industry harm. As Evans noted, the tool transforms abstract dollar figures into concrete programs—prevention initiatives in schools, treatment slots in underserved counties, research into innovative therapies—that may finally bend the curve of addiction mortality in one of America's hardest-hit states.

The dashboard is accessible at https://kyoaac.ky.gov/dashboard.