VIRGINIA IDENTTY THEFT PLAN DETAILED BY CANDIDATE FOR ATTORNEY GENERALTimesDispatch.com | McDonnell details identity-theft planMcDonnell details identity-theft plan
He and rival in race for attorney general target computer crime

BY MICHAEL HARDY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 21, 2005


Republican Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican candidate for attorney general, yesterday proposed several changes in state law to combat identity theft.

Under his plan, identity thieves would face tougher penalties, and businesses and governments might have to notify affected individuals when a database has been breached.

Additionally, there would be greater restrictions on access to court records containing private information about an individual.

"Identity theft is one of the largest and fastest-growing crimes in Virginia," McDonnell said in pointing to the urgency of reforming the prosecution of such offenders.

He spelled out his plan in a teleconference with reporters.

McDonnell and his opponent, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, have spent much of the campaign proposing tough-on-crime initiatives even though the attorney general mainly handles appeals of criminal convictions.

But the office does have prosecutorial power over environmental, Medicaid and cybercrimes and now has a computer-crimes unit.

Among McDonnell's proposals, all identity-theft crimes, not just those exceeding $200, would be a felony punishable by from one to 20 years in prison.

McDonnell, a state delegate representing Virginia Beach, also wants to encourage business executives and consumer advocates to develop a system to encourage notification of individuals whose personal information may have been stolen.

He also wants to cut back on disclosure of personal information, such as Social Security numbers, signatures and birth dates, contained on court documents and other public records.

Peter Jackson, press secretary to Deeds, responded yesterday that the Bath County Democrat five months ago released proposals to expand the focus of the attorney general's unit on computer crime.

Calling it the "21st Century Crimes Division," it too would focus on identity theft.

"In 2004, Virginia has more consumer fraud and identity-theft reports than almost every other state," Deeds says. "Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond are among the highest-ranked communities in the country for these crimes."

The race for attorney general, to be decided by voters in the Nov. 8 election, has so far been too close to call, according to a few polls.