Conference committee considers giving county attorneys administrative subpoena authority for wage‑theft probes

A conference committee on the Legislature’s omnibus bills heard testimony on language in Senate File 1909 that would authorize county attorneys to issue administrative subpoenas for employer financial and payroll records in wage‑theft investigations.

Joel Hansen, director of government affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors, told the committee the proposal would expand existing authority used in other financial‑crime investigations and asked for clearer drafting. Hansen said the draft (article 6, r 1, lines 103.16–105.2) uses phrases such as “other person” and “other records that in any way relate to wages or other income” that he said are undefined and risk overbreadth; he also noted the change would move some investigations from the search‑warrant standard to an administrative subpoena standard that does not…