Missouri insurance chief gets new post

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt names his Insurance Department director to a panel that hears appeals of state agency regulatory decisions.

Insurance Department Director Doug Ommen (OH'-men) would replace June Doughty on the Administrative Hearing Commission. The appointment would run until 2014 if it is confirmed by the Senate.

Ommen has been the director of the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration since January, 2007. Before that, he was the department's deputy director.

Ommen, 50, also was the securities commissioner in Blunt's secretary of state office. He has a bachelor's degree from Rockhurst University and a law degree from St. Louis University.