State lawmaker drops plan to let governor order patrol investigations

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state lawmaker said Tuesday he was dropping an effort to give governors the authority to order state highway patrol investigations into alleged misconduct by high-ranking state officials.

Rep. Scott Lipke, R-Cape Girardeau, said he was pulling the provision from a bill dealing with the highway patrol because he didn't want its potentially controversial nature to jeopardize the rest of the bill.

His announcement came as the House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee heard testimony on the legislation.

In July, Gov. Matt Blunt's administration acknowledged it had broken state law when it asked the highway patrol to investigate allegations against state agriculture director Fred Ferrell. State law generally limits the patrol to enforcing traffic laws and conducting criminal investigations.

Ferrell was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation into his workplace conduct and was reinstated May 19. Blunt's administration never released details of the allegations against him or a report of the internal investigation.

At the time, Ferrell released an apology for any offense he caused, saying he was "committed to maintaining a positive and productive environment for all employees and providing equal opportunities for advancement without regard to gender or any other status protected by law."

An Agriculture Department employee who had complained about Ferrell's actions had planned to testify about the legislation Tuesday but opted not to when Lipke said the provision was being removed.

"The stuff we wanted out was out. So today was a good day," said the woman's attorney, Carla Holste of Jefferson City.

Lipke, R-Jackson, said some senators were opposed to the provision and that his decision to cut it was not directly related to the potential testimony by the Agriculture Department employee.

"I'm trying to keep it as noncontroversial as possible," Lipke said.

The central part of Lipke's bill would specifically allow the Highway Patrol to conduct name and fingerprint background investigations on gubernatorial appointees and to share the results confidentially with the governor or his staff.

Capt. Bret Johnson of the Highway Patrol said a basic name check searches only open criminal records in Missouri, but a fingerprint check searches both open and closed records in Missouri and other states.

If an FBI fingerprint check turns up a criminal background, Johnson said the patrol currently can tell the governor's office only that the search came up with a hit -- not the details of the incident.