Missouri House wants monthly reports on state legal settlements

JEFFERSON CITY • An attempt to shed more light on legal settlements that have cost the state millions in recent years easily won initial approval in the Missouri House Tuesday.

Potosi Republican Paul Fitzwater's proposal would require the attorney general to provide monthly updates on lawsuits against the Department of Corrections and payouts from the state legal expense fund.

The fund came under fire late last month after The Pitch, a Kansas City weekly alternative newspaper, reported it expended more than $7.5 million in the past five years to settle cases or pay judgments against the department.

The Pitch story and further reporting by the Post-Dispatch revealed a culture of harassment and discrimination in the department and prompted an investigation by a House committee and the state auditor.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-house-wants-monthly-reports-on-state-legal-settlements/article_16c2cc86-215a-591e-ba8f-f703e2db1b44.html