Arkansas AG targets renegade sports agents

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Renegade sports agents, sex offenders, synthetic marijuana and spam telephone calls are among the issues that Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel hopes to target next year in his smaller-than-usual package of legislative proposals.

McDaniel said his legislative package for the upcoming legislative session would include a bill with stricter punishment for a sports agent, an athlete's relative or another third party who negotiates benefits in exchange for an athlete attending a university. The attorney general cited the activities of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton's father in seeking $180,000 from Mississippi State if he could steer his son to sign with that school.

McDaniel wants to punish anyone acting as an intermediary in such cases by making it a felony punishable by a fine up to $10,000 and as much as six years in prison.

Another bill that McDaniel is proposing would clarify his office's subpoena authority when investigating suspected sexual predators. The plan would give the attorney general the power to issue an administrative subpoena that would require companies or people to provide information, such as an address, about an individual being investigated.

McDaniel said state law prohibiting sex offenders from working in daycare centers also needs to be clarified after a federal court ruling said a sex offender didn't violate his parole by working at a daycare center as a carpenter, because he didn't spend the bulk of his time involved with children.

Another proposal would punish an adult who sends obscene material to a minor, no matter what medium was used, to fix a disparity between using e-mail or a cell phone for such an act.

Published: Wed, Dec 29, 2010