Riverton City Council opts in to two more national opioid settlement agreements

(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton City Council opted-in to two more national opioid settlement agreements this week, securing an estimated additional $100,000 to support local opioid abatement strategies.

The city has already received about $246,000 from previous settlement agreements, staff noted in a memo to the council – and some of those previous settlements will continue with annual contributions that are projected to bring in an additional $444,000 over the next 12 years.

New settlements

The new national opioid settlements Riverton opted into this week include the Purdue Direct Settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, and the Secondary Manufacturers Settlements with eight opioid manufacturers, the staff memo states.

The Purdue Direct Settlement includes $6.5 billion from the Sackler family and $900 million from Purdue Pharma, and Wyoming is projected to receive $6.3 million – of which Riverton has the potential to receive $80,000 over the next 16 years, according to the memo.

The Secondary Manufacturers Settlements exceed $700 million, the memo states, and Riverton has the potential to receive $19,000.

Drug detection

The council will have the opportunity to discuss potential uses of the opioid settlement money at a later date, City Administrator Kyle Butterfield said – but during this week’s meeting Councilmember Karen Johnson gave a “heads up” that, when the time comes, “I will be recommending these funds be disbursed to the police department.”

The Riverton Police Department could use the funding to develop a K-9 drug detection program in town, she said, or they could purchase specialized equipment that helps officers avoid contact with illicit substances when conducting drug tests.

“There’s a lot of uses (that) these funds can be expended on to really help our law enforcement and keep them safe as well,” Johnson said. 

For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.