DES MOINES, Iowa —

State Auditor Rob Sand was the only member of the three-person State Board of Appeals to vote no as the board approved a nearly $600,000 settlement resolving an open-records dispute from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former health department communications director Polly Carver-Kimm sued the state after her 2020 termination, alleging she was fired for refusing to slow responses to COVID-19 records requests.

The Supreme Court allowed her case to proceed in 2023.

Under the agreement, Carver-Kimm would receive $310,000 and her attorneys $290,000.

Mason Mauro, a spokesperson for Gov. Reynolds' office, said the state admits no wrongdoing, calling the settlement a way to mitigate risk and avoid litigation costs and uncertainty.

Mauro sent KCCI this statement:

"The

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