Donnelly sues to open Mo. Ethics Commission hearings

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly says she has sued the state Ethics Commission to force open some of its hearings.

At stake are the closed hearings the commission may hold to determine whether individual candidates should be granted an exception to refunding their over-the-limit contributions.

Many candidates took in large amounts of money after Missouri's contribution limits were repealed in January. The state Supreme Court reinstated the limits in July.

Since then, many candidates have pledged to refund those contributions.

The court left it to the Ethics Commission to determine whether some candidates should be granted a "hardship" exemption from the refunds.

The Ethics Commission plans to hold those hearings in private and won't confirm whether any candidate has asked for one.