NATIONAL BRIEFING / ALASKA

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will reimburse the state nearly $7,000 for costs associated with nine trips taken by her children, her attorney said.

The settlement agreement was filed by a special investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board to investigate an ethics complaint filed against Palin. Her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, estimated the amount would be $6,800.

There is no state law prohibiting the governor’s family from traveling with her, and the personnel board found no wrongdoing by the governor. But the investigator interpreted the state’s Executive Branch Ethics Act to require that the state pay only if the first family serves an important state interest.