Missouri will be offering credit monitoring to 620,000 teachers and former teachers whose Social Security numbers were left vulnerable on a state website. According to The Kansas City Star, Gov. Mike Parson is spending $800,000 for the service after a newspaper discovered that the Social Security numbers were in the HTML source code of a database of teacher certifications. The database is now offline.
An Illinois ethics board has recommended a two-month suspension for a lawyer who helped create a “Fire the Liar” website targeting a state judge. According to Reuters, the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois determined in November that Margaret Jean Lowery lied about her contribution to the website, which made false allegations about Andrew Gleeson, chief judge of the 20th Judicial Circuit, as he sought re-election.
The Louisiana board that oversees mental health and family counselors failed to subject license applicants to criminal background checks for five years, according to a state audit. Though state law gave the Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners the authority to conduct background checks for initial and renewing applicants as of January 2014, the board did not begin to conduct checks on applicants until January 2019. It has not yet begun to perform checks for renewals. The audit, released Nov. 10 by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, reports that 69.4% of licensees had not received background checks as of June 2021.
Iowa’s plumbing board has asked a court to prohibit an unlicensed contractor from doing work, alleging that he has caused the death of a customer. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the Iowa Plumbing & Mechanical Systems Board seeks to stop Jack Archer from performing plumbing, heating and similar work until he obtains a license. The board also wants him to pay outstanding civil penalties. In 2019, the board’s suit claims, a townhouse resident was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning after Archer performed furnace work.
The Pennsylvania House passed a bill Nov. 10 that would ease professional licensure for military veterans. The bill, which received unanimous support, would expedite application reviews for veterans and weigh military experience when making qualification determinations, among other things. The bill now heads to the Senate, where continued bipartisan support is expected.
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