Gov. Kim Reynolds is settling three lawsuits from journalists and others seeking public records after losing a key Iowa Supreme Court case this spring, agreeing to pay $175,000.
Reynolds' office was sued by journalists Clark Kauffman of the Iowa Capital Dispatch and Laura Belin of the politics blog Bleeding Heartland and others for failing to respond to multiple requests for documents in 2020 and 2021, during the early stages of the COVID pandemic.
After a district court refused to dismiss the case, Reynolds appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. In April, the unanimous court ruled the lawsuit could continue, finding that open-ended failure to fulfill records requests, or even to affirmatively deny them, violated the state's open records law.
Now, Reynolds is settling the lawsuit and others like it.
The Iowa Appeals Board, which approves settlements for state entities, on Wednesday greenlit a $135,000 settlement to cover legal fees and costs for Belin and her co-plaintiffs over the objections of State Auditor Rob Sand, who is a member of the board.
According to settlement documents, the deal will dismiss the plaintiffs' claims against the governor, but the district court will keep the case open for an additional year to adjudicate any additional disputes over the production of documents sought in the case.
The board also approved an additional nearly $40,000 settlement for Suzette Rasmussen, a Utah attorney who had filed two lawsuits against Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Public Health for failing to respond to records requests related to COVID-19 testing contracts.
In a statement Wednesday, Reynolds' spokesperson blamed the unprecedented conditions of the pandemic for the delays, but called them "not acceptable."
“The COVID-19 response put unprecedented demands on the Governor’s team to meet the immediate needs of Iowans. As a result, responses to requests were unintentionally delayed, which is not acceptable," Deputy Communications Director Kollin Crompton said. "Our office has assessed our internal processes and we continue to reevaluate the process to improve timeliness.”
Sand, one of three members on the board, said in a statement he was voting against the Belin and Rasmussen settlements.
“These insiders have no shame. They abuse your rights and then want to use your money to pay for having abused you,” Sand said. “I will not go along with this disgusting abuse of power.”
Sand noted that Iowa law requires officials found to have violated the open records law to pay a civil fine of up to $2,500, with multiple infractions potentially resulting in an official being removed from office.
Offenders are also required to pay attorney fees. Because the case is settling before the district court could make a determination on the merits, none of these consequences will apply here.
“This is a brazen scam by those whose salaries are paid by taxpayers, to skirt a law requiring their own personal responsibility for the fees and fines for hiding public records and using taxpayer funds instead,” he said.
Wednesday's settlements aren't the first Sand has opposed. In March he voted against a $4 million racial discrimination settlement with former University of Iowa football players, saying he opposed the use of taxpayer funds unless Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta was fired. (Barta has since announced his retirement.)
The settlements were approved on the votes of State Treasurer Roby Smith and Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen, the board's two other members.
The plaintiffs in the journalists' lawsuit were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. ACLU attorney Thomas Story said in a statement his clients were "pleased" with approval of the settlement.
"The agreement specifies that the Governor’s Office agreed to a one-year period of judicial oversight over its compliance with Iowa’s Open Records Act and payment of reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred during this year-and-a-half-long litigation," Story said.
Story said the ACLU will have additional comment once the settlement is filed and approved by the Polk County court.
The Iowa Attorney General's Office, which represented the state in the case, did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
