Iowa Public Information Board to take up family’s desire to see video of police shooting

The Iowa Public Information Board plans to take action in December on complaints from a Burlington family trying to get more information about an officer-involved shooting in January.

The board voted in September to accept complaints filed by Autumn Steele's family and the Burlington Hawk Eye newspaper seeking access to a body camera video and other information about the Jan. 6 shooting, in which a Burlington police officer accidentally shot and killed Steele in her front yard.

'I am hopeful for either an informal resolution or a probable cause report by the December meeting,” said Margaret Johnson, deputy director of the board that enforces Iowa's open records and open meetings laws.

If an informal resolution between police and the complainants can't be reached, the board has the authority to file charges against the custodian of the records. An open records violation carries a civil penalty of up to $500, but the penalty for knowingly violating the law ranges from $1,000 to $2.500.

'It is a bit more complicated because there are two complainants and three separate respondents,” Johnson said. 'So, in theory, there could be six separate outcomes.”

Burlington police officer Jesse Hill responded to a domestic disturbance call at Steele's house, where he was attacked by a dog, board records state. Trying to defend himself, Hill fired his weapon and accidentally hit Steele, killing her. No criminal charges were filed against Hill, and he returned to work.

The Burlington police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation so far have released only 12 seconds of Hill's body camera recording.

Attorneys for the state have argued the video is exempt from Iowa's public records law because it's part of an investigative file - even though the investigation is closed.

The family's attorney said the board has the power to perform a balancing test to see whether the public benefit of releasing the video would outweigh privacy concerns. The Hawk Eye argued the whole video should be made public because of increased concern nationwide about officer-involved shootings.

The board's next meeting is Dec. 17 in Des Moines.