DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The director of the Iowa Public Information Board has quit so he can become secretary of the Iowa Senate. The Des Moines Register reports  Charlie Smithson told the board’s nine members in an email last week that his resignation is effective Thursday.

The board enforces the state’s open records and open meeting laws and began operation in July 2013. Smithson has been its director since Dec. 1, 2014. Margaret Johnson will be interim director while the board looks for someone to replace Smithson.

Ed Failor Jr. is an aide to Iowa Senate Republican leader Bill Dix, and Failor confirmed Wednesday that Smithson will be named secretary of the Senate when the GOP takes majority control in January.