Topeka ? Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall wants to expand the state’s death penalty law and secure more authority for her office and local prosecutors to investigate potential terrorists.

But some legislators, including Senate President Dave Kerr, are skeptical that such measures are necessary.

Stovall outlined her anti-terrorism proposals for the Legislature on Friday.

They include creating a new crime of terrorism, allowing the execution of people who kill during terrorist acts, strengthening the penalties for making false threats, and making wiretapping and surveillance easier.

A special legislative committee on security issues began meeting after the Sept. 11 attacks, but it has not recommended such changes.

“If dramatic changes are needed, we haven’t yet become aware of that,” said Kerr, R-Hutchinson, the committee co-chairman.

Stovall said the changes would give her office and county prosecutors the authority to monitor activities of potential terrorists and do a better job of helping federal authorities.

“No state had a terrorism statute prior to the 11th,” Stovall said.

“It just didn’t occur to anybody that that was necessary. It just seems to me that it’s a good thing to have.”

However, some state legislators believe Kansas’ existing criminal laws may already cover terrorist conspiracies and crimes.

“Obviously, all of us are concerned with terrorism and want to take the appropriate steps, but we have a pretty tight criminal code,” said Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a former district court judge.

Stovall’s office plans to ask the House committee Monday to sponsor a bill containing her proposals.

Under Stovall’s proposals, terrorism would be defined as committing a felony to try to intimidate “a civilian population” or influence the government. Conviction would carry a sentence of life in prison.

If a terrorist’s actions led to someone’s death, the terrorist could executed by lethal injection.

Also, the penalty for making a false terrorist threat would increase from the current six months’ probation to a range of four years and seven months to five years and one month in prison.

Stovall said the change would not apply to some threats, such as false fire alarms, but could cover false bomb threats.

The proposed changes in the wiretapping law would bring Kansas into line with recently approved changes in federal law such as getting court approval for a specific person rather than a specific phone number.