Missouri AG candidate wants e-mails to be public record

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An attorney general candidate wants to make sure e-mails about public business sent by government employees are considered open records.

Democratic House member Jeff Harris, of Columbia, plans to file a bill to do that. It would cover messages sent by computer, cell phone, Palm Pilot and BlackBerry.

Harris is one of several Democrats running to be attorney general.

The issue of whether e-mails are public records arose after Gov. Matt Blunt's administration acknowledged it routinely destroys some e-mails.

A former staff attorney has sued the governor and other aides claiming Blunt's administration communicated by BlackBerry to try to avoid turning over documents during open records requests.