CLAYTON • Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, a top prosecutor and a Missouri senator called Wednesday for tougher penalties for officials who steal public money and greater powers to audit and recover the loot.

Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, has pre-filed a bill, S.B. 176, that would increase the penalty for first-degree official misconduct from a misdemeanor to a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison. It also would create a class A misdemeanor crime of second-degree official misconduct, to give prosecutors “greater discretion,” according to a news release.

In addition, the bill would give judges more powers to recover the money, and allow prosecutors and law enforcement to request an audit of an agency suspected of “fraud, misconduct, or abuse of public dollars.”