Mo. AG candidate suggests new recall, scam alerts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly said Thursday that she would crack down on dangerous and recalled products while fixing loopholes for sex offender registration and background checks.

Donnelly, speaking at a Jefferson City library, unveiled what she called her first priorities if she is elected. She said that her office would stand guard to keep Missourians safe.

Donnelly's priorities include:

-- A special unit within the attorney general's office to work with local police to find sex offenders who violate their parole or fail to register with the state database.

-- Tougher state laws against dangerous consumer products, such as a $500-per day fine for stores that don't immediately remove recalled products from the shelves.

-- An e-mail or text message alert system that would notify Missourians of recalled products and potential scams.

-- A dedicated phone hot line to help seniors get information about fraud.

-- Investigations into special "reverse" mortgages, where loans against a home's equity are repaid after the property is sold, and of state contracts through the Medicaid system.

Although setting up alerts and hot lines can be done by the attorney general's office, Donnelly acknowledged that many of her other proposals would require legislative approval or persuading other parts of state government to take action.

For example, Donnelly said she would use the attorney general's office to pressure the state education department and local school districts to do a better job of conducting fingerprint background checks of their bus drivers.

According to a state audit released last week, auditors found that in 30 randomly selected public school districts, 3 percent of the bus drivers and the aides who ride on the bus to help monitor children did not have a fingerprint criminal record check. State law requires such checks for new drivers hired after 2005.

Besides Donnelly, other Democrats running in the Aug. 5 attorney general's primary include Sen. Chris Koster, of Harrisonville, and Rep. Jeff Harris, of Columbia. Sen. Michael Gibbons, of Kirkwood, is the lone Republican candidate.

Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon is running for governor.

Harris earlier this week said he would work to ensure animal feeding operations follow state laws and make the farms clean up any messes that they make. He also said that local property owners should have more say in deciding where the farming operations can be located.

Koster has called for creating a new division within the attorney general's office for civil and disability rights. That division would have responsibility for domestic violence and hate crimes cases and for ensuring compliance with federal disability laws.