INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller alluded Thursday to a former Lake County treasurer's employee accused of pocketing $108,500 in asking state lawmakers to grant him greater authority.

Zoeller went before the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to pitch legislation to allow his office to get involved immediately if state auditors uncover a substantial chunk of missing cash while reviewing the books of state and local agencies. The attorney general's office, which is the state's collection agency, currently must wait until a state audit is completed.

Senate Bill 353 would allow the State Board of Accounts to inform Zoeller right away of potential impropriety. And it would let the attorney general file a notice of a lien against real estate or assets owned by the alleged pilferer of public money.

"Basically, this would just allow you to have a better chance of making a recovery," Zoeller told the committee.

Zoeller said his office only sees a handful of audits a year in which the missing money exceeds theft insurance bonds in place for officials who handle public money.

That's the case with Wanda White, a former clerk accused in late 2007 of stealing $108,561 in cash tax payments made by Lake County property owners. In that case, the treasurer's office had $30,000 in theft insurance

The committee sent Zoeller's legislation to the full Senate on a 5-1 vote.

Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the lien notice provision would allow the state to exert too much financial pressure before proving a theft case in court. Zoeller said a lien notice would merely keep the state informed if the accused tried to liquidate assets that might be tapped to repay a theft.