Griffin: ‘With this year’s disbursement, Arkansas has received a total of $1.38 billion’

LITTLE ROCK – After the State of Arkansas received $49,593,803.13 as the 2024 share of proceeds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with tobacco companies, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:

“My office is tasked with enforcing the MSA and various tobacco statutes enacted pursuant to the MSA. The annual disbursement of settlement funds supports key programs in Arkansas that improve health outcomes. With this year’s disbursement, Arkansas has received a total of $1.38 billion.”

Background

In 2000, Arkansas voters created the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, which governs how the MSA funds are used. Tobacco settlement moneys fund numerous health-related programs in Arkansas, including the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, an agricultural and medical research consortium; the Medicaid Expansion Program, which provides Medicaid coverage for underserved populations; the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program, which aims to reduce tobacco use; and the Targeted State Needs Program, which includes support for public health programs for minorities, older Arkansans, and residents of rural areas and the Delta.

In addition to enforcing the terms of the MSA, the Office of Attorney General’s enforcement of tobacco statutes includes operation of a certification process for tobacco manufacturers; ongoing quarterly and annual reporting; maintaining an Approved-For-Sale Directory for cigarettes; and conducting audits, investigations, or litigation should violations of the tobacco statutes occur.

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About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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