School board member pleads not guilty to assault charge

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) - A southeast Iowa school board member has pleaded not guilty to a charge of domestic abuse assault.

The written plea and a demand for a jury trial were electronically filed Wednesday in Lee County for 40-year-old Carlita “Carrie” Steele. She’s a school board member for the Keokuk Community School District.

Steele’s attorney, Curtis Dial, said Thursday that he’ll be filing a motion to dismiss the case. A criminal complaint says Steele’s husband, Christopher, told officers that his wife had threatened to shoot him and herself Tuesday night.