Dave Yost, Ohio’s attorney general, and the opioid money flowing to counties
Yost has negotiated Ohio's share of national opioid settlements. Huron, Sandusky, Seneca and Erie counties all receive a portion through the OneOhio plan.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has spent much of his two terms on cases that seldom make headlines in small towns but send real money to them, chief among them the national opioid settlements with drug makers, distributors and pharmacy chains.
Yost, a Republican, was elected attorney general in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Term limits end his tenure in January 2027.
Background
Yost grew up in Marion County and worked as a newspaper reporter in Columbus before law school at Capital University. He served as Delaware County auditor and prosecutor, then as state auditor from 2011 to 2019. His office biography is at ohioattorneygeneral.gov.
How the opioid money works
Ohio’s share of the settlements is split under the OneOhio memorandum signed by the state and local governments in 2020. Roughly 55 percent goes to the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, which awards grants through regional boards; 30 percent goes directly to local governments; and 15 percent goes to the state. Counties around Bellevue have received direct payments and their nonprofits can apply for regional grants for treatment, recovery housing and prevention programs.
The settlements were negotiated over years, and payments arrive in installments that stretch into the 2030s. County commissioners decide how their direct share is spent, and many have tied it to drug courts, jail treatment programs and partnerships with mental health boards.
Other parts of the record
Yost has joined multistate lawsuits on both sides of national issues, depending on the administration. He sued the federal government over Biden administration rules and has defended Ohio laws in court, including the state’s congressional maps. He also pursued a case against FirstEnergy-related figures stemming from the House Bill 6 bribery scandal, which sent former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to federal prison.
In 2025, Yost briefly ran for governor before withdrawing from the Republican primary, leaving the field to Vivek Ramaswamy.
The Huron County, Sandusky County, Seneca County and Erie County commissions post their settlement spending in their meeting minutes, and we follow those votes in Local News.