(Des Moines)– The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is revising its accident reporting procedures.
The changes come in the wake of a deadly boat crash on West Lake Okoboji last month. A six-year-old girl, Kathryn Mills of Johnston, was killed in the collision. Ten other people were hurt.
The D-N-R, citing a state boating law, refused to answer questions from reporters for weeks. Now the agency says it could have legally released more information, and will do so in the future.
In a letter, D-N-R Director Jeff Vonk acknowledged that Iowa’s open-records law requires the release of basic information except in very limited circumstances.
Dickinson County Attorney Rosalise Olson will turn the case over to a grand jury to decide if charges will be filed.
(Story from the Associated Press).
