Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998--

OHIO:

Republican Attorney General Betty Montgomery announced yesterday that she
is running for re-election, making campaign stops in Toledo, Cleveland,
Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus with a strong anti-crime message.

Montgomery -- the 1st woman to be Ohio's attorney general -- has pushed
for laws that close loopholes and speed up the death penalty appeals
process. She also has helped local police departments coordinate
crime-fighting efforts.

She said yesterday that 40 % of her budget has been targeted to criminal
law-enforcement activities, compared to 28 % under previous Democratic
administrations.

"The first role of government is to protect the people," she said.

"We're not the cops, but we're partners with the law enforcement
community," she said of her office.

Montgomery said, for example, that her office has worked to establish a
statewide database for fingerprints. She also said that she hopes to
have a DNA database by the end of the year.

Montgomery's term since defeating Democratic incumbent Lee Fisher in
1994 has not been without controversy, however. Fisher is now running
for governor.

She has been criticized, for example, for negotiating a $4.1 million
settlement with inmates involved in the 1993 riot at the Southern
Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

Democrat Richard Cordray, who served in the Ohio House in 1991-92, will
be Montgomery's opponent in the November election.

Rick Halperin
AI-Texas
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