State public information board names election law expert as new director

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Iowa Public Information Board has named an election law expert as its new executive director.

Charlie Smithson will succeed Keith Luchtel, who plans to retire.

Smithson, who served as executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board from 2001-2010, has been legal counsel and legislative liaison for the Iowa Secretary of State's Office since 2012. He was chief clerk of the Iowa House from 2010-2012 and serves as an adjunct professor of election law at Drake.

'The board feels fortunate to have hired a leader with Charlie's experience,” said Public Information Board Chair Robert Andeweg, Urbandale mayor. 'He has great agency management experience and, like Keith Luchtel, he knows his way around the Statehouse.”

The Iowa Legislature created the IPIB in 2012 to enforce Iowa's Open Records and Open Meetings laws. The board, which started accepting complaints in July 2013, has the authority to issue informal advice and declaratory orders as well as institute civil fines.

The board fined Washington County Attorney Larry Brock $1,000 last month after an administrative law judge found Brock knowingly violated the Open Records law by waiting more than 90 days to provide public records to a former employee. Brock was the first person the board charged with breaking the public records law.

The nine-member board reported 684 contacts, including formal complaints and informal requests, from Jan. 1 through October 30.