West Virginia Counties Reveal Opioid Settlement Spending — And How You Can Get the Data
MuckRock and West Virginia University journalism students just completed a massive FOIA effort: records requests to all 55 counties in the state tracking how opioid settlement money is actually being spent.
What they found: The investigation uncovered how public officials are allocating billions in settlement funds meant to address the overdose crisis. The specifics vary wildly by county — revealing which jurisdictions are investing in treatment, prevention, or other uses.
Why it matters: Opioid settlements reached $50 billion nationally. But without public scrutiny, funds often disappear into bureaucratic black holes. This reporting creates accountability.
How to replicate it: MuckRock published a how-to guide for other states. The method:
- File FOIA requests to every county simultaneously
- Coordinate with local journalism students to manage volume
- Standardize the data into comparable figures
- Report findings publicly
The gap: Most Americans have no idea how their state's settlement money is being used. County-level spending is rarely scrutinized. This project fixes that.
MuckRock is now encouraging journalists and activists in other states to run identical investigations. The template works.
Status: Ongoing — reporting continues as documents arrive.
Source: MuckRock, November 2025