STUMBO SAYS NEW KBI WILL FOCUS ON METH INVESTIGATIONS

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo said yesterday
he is reorganizing his staff to create the Kentucky Bureau of
Investigation and plans to focus on slowing methamphetamine use.

Following the announcement, Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who is state justice
secretary, accused Stumbo of having a political agenda. He also said
the KBI may duplicate the work of agencies such as the Kentucky State
Police.

Kentucky Bureau of Investigation Attorney General Greg Stumbo said the
new bureau: Will be headed by Commissioner David James, a former
Louisville police officer who joined Stumbo's staff in January as
chief investigator.

Will have 35 investigators.

Will be funded from the attorney general's existing $23 million annual
budget.

Will focus on methamphetamine crime but will not duplicate the work of
other law enforcement agencies.

Shortly after they took office, Pence, a Republican, asked Stumbo, a
Democrat, to defer creating the KBI.

Yesterday, Stumbo defended the creation of the agency as critical to
help combat drugs and said his motive is not political.

"I have no plans to run for governor at this time," Stumbo
said.

"It's going to take all of us using our resources to make a dent in
this terrible problem we have in Kentucky," Stumbo said of illegal
drug use.

The KBI will be made up of the 35 sworn law enforcement officers in
his office and will require no additional revenue, Stumbo said. His
budget is $23 million a year.

Stumbo said the KBI would not duplicate the work of other law
enforcement agencies nor take away from the officers' other
responsibilities for investigating public corruption and Medicaid and
welfare fraud.

Pence said he wondered whether Stumbo might be trying to attract
attention as a possible candidate for governor.

"I don't think this is going to assist in the fight against drugs at
all," said Pence, a former federal prosecutor who led a recent
statewide study of how to tackle the drug problem. "I think this is
the beginning of the Democratic primary for 2007."

Creating the KBI had been a campaign pledge for Stumbo, a former state
representative from Floyd County and majority floor leader in the House.

But it had been a point of contention between Stumbo and Pence. In
January, shortly after Gov. Ernie Fletcher took office, Pence asked
Stumbo to hold off on plans for the KBI until a drug summit Pence
headed had finished its work and recommended a plan.

Stumbo, who worked on the summit, agreed but said yesterday the drug
summit released its report in August recommending more treatment for
drug abusers, an expanded drug court and better coordination of
effort. The plan didn't include a recommendation for the KBI.

Former Louisville police officer David James, who joined Stumbo's
staff in January as chief investigator, will get a new title as KBI
commissioner.

He will oversee 35 investigators divided among four units: Public
Corruption and Special Investigations; Medicaid Fraud and Abuse
Control; Welfare Fraud; and Drug Investigations. Four will be assigned
to the drug unit, James said.

The attorney general's office had 33 investigators and added two by
eliminating one management position, James said.

Stumbo said the goal is to look at all drug crimes, including
trafficking in narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin, a big problem
in his home area of Eastern Kentucky. But a key focus of the unit will
be to take on the state's growing methamphetamine problem, he said.

His unit won't try to investigate all meth crimes, Stumbo said, saying
that's the job of state and local police.

Rather, he hopes to pinpoint major suppliers of so-called precursors,
or common ingredients used in methamphetamine such as pseudoephedrine
and ephedrine, found in cold medicine, as well as other stimulants
used in diet pills or over-the-counter "energy" pills.

Stumbo said his investigators will work with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and attempt to identify wholesalers or retailers
dealing in unusually large amounts of the drugs.

He said a similar effort in Oklahoma by state authorities working with
the DEA was successful at slowing the diversion of such substances for
meth labs.

Stumbo said a DEA investigator already is working with his officers on
the project.

Bobby Otero, diversion supervisor for the DEA in Louisville, said such
efforts have been effective in other states and his office is working
with Stumbo.

Otero said the DEA will work with the state to review records of
registered dealers and also follow up on tips about unregistered suppliers.