Lehigh County DA details using opioid settlement and forfeiture funds to back treatment and prevention programs
February 25, 2026 | Emmaus, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
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Gavin Holly, Lehigh County district attorney, described to Emmaus residents how the DA 's office is using non-taxpayer funds from an opioid litigation settlement and drug asset forfeiture to finance treatment, recovery and prevention efforts.
"We were given $1,000,000 dollars to spend when Jim Martin was still a district attorney," Holly said, describing the settlement as an 18-year arrangement. He said the office spent that initial payment to support the intake and inpatient operations at Treatment Trends, an Allentown drug and alcohol center that he said otherwise faced closure.
Holly said opioid settlement funds are restricted to opioid-abatement activities and cannot be used for traditional prosecutor expenses such as equipment, guns, vests or prosecutor training. He said the settlement language constrains eligible spending and the office hires community outreach specialists to ensure compliance.
On drug asset forfeiture funds, Holly said Pennsylvania practice requires a conviction before forfeiture and that Lehigh County retains and invests forfeiture proceeds, using interest and principal to support task forces, a county digital forensics lab and direct grants. "We put a $100,000 from asset forfeiture money into the digital forensics lab that serves the entire county," he said.
Holly listed other funded initiatives: mother-child sober living programs started in 2025, a $135,000 grant to Bloom for Women to set up anti-trafficking programs, collaboration with the Kindness Project to support foster children, and an elementary-school athletics program in the Allentown School District funded with forfeiture money.
Holly emphasized these are not taxpayer funds and described them as "creative" long-term investments intended to reduce future crime by supporting treatment and prevention rather than traditional enforcement alone.
The DA cautioned that spending must match legal restrictions on settlement funds or the county risks returning money, and he said his office worked with county partners to meet timing and compliance constraints when distributing an early settlement payment.
"We were given $1,000,000 dollars to spend when Jim Martin was still a district attorney," Holly said, describing the settlement as an 18-year arrangement. He said the office spent that initial payment to support the intake and inpatient operations at Treatment Trends, an Allentown drug and alcohol center that he said otherwise faced closure.
Holly said opioid settlement funds are restricted to opioid-abatement activities and cannot be used for traditional prosecutor expenses such as equipment, guns, vests or prosecutor training. He said the settlement language constrains eligible spending and the office hires community outreach specialists to ensure compliance.
On drug asset forfeiture funds, Holly said Pennsylvania practice requires a conviction before forfeiture and that Lehigh County retains and invests forfeiture proceeds, using interest and principal to support task forces, a county digital forensics lab and direct grants. "We put a $100,000 from asset forfeiture money into the digital forensics lab that serves the entire county," he said.
Holly listed other funded initiatives: mother-child sober living programs started in 2025, a $135,000 grant to Bloom for Women to set up anti-trafficking programs, collaboration with the Kindness Project to support foster children, and an elementary-school athletics program in the Allentown School District funded with forfeiture money.
Holly emphasized these are not taxpayer funds and described them as "creative" long-term investments intended to reduce future crime by supporting treatment and prevention rather than traditional enforcement alone.
The DA cautioned that spending must match legal restrictions on settlement funds or the county risks returning money, and he said his office worked with county partners to meet timing and compliance constraints when distributing an early settlement payment.
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