Charlie Smithson
A lawyer who has worked in key state government roles has been named executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board.
Members of the Iowa Public Information Board have chosen Charlie Smithson as the board’s new executive director. The Public Information Board was created two years ago to field citizen complaints about lack of access to public records and violations of the state’s open meetings law.
Keith Luchtel, a lawyer who is a retired lobbyist, has been executive director of the Public Information Board since it started operations in 2013. Charlie Smithson — the new executive director — served almost a decade as executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board before Republicans hired him to be chief clerk of the House in 2010. In 2012, he began legal counsel and legislative liaison for Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz.