Kansas City, Mo. ? Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison wants a new plea hearing in a city councilman’s ticket-fixing case because the initial agreement was handled by phone instead of in open court.

Morrison said Wednesday that his office will file a motion in the next day or two requesting another hearing for Bob Lane, a councilman in the Kansas City suburb of Edwardsville, Kan. Lane pleaded no contest Tuesday to fixing drunken-driving tickets in exchange for gifts.

“It’s a public corruption case, and anything that happens in a case like that needs to be done in open court for everybody to see,” Morrison said, adding that he was not informed of the telephoned plea until after it happened.

Kansas law is clear that pleas need to be handled in a public hearing, he said.

“The fact it didn’t happen in open court puts out an air of suspicion,” Morrison said. “I just think it never looks good.”

Lane’s attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment Wednesday.

A court reporter made an official record of the telephoned proceedings, which included Lane, his lawyer, an assistant attorney general and the visiting judge who took the case after local judges recused themselves.

Lane pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of compounding a crime, official misconduct and conspiracy to commit official misconduct. Felony charges of bribery and aggravated intimidation of a witness were dismissed under the plea agreement. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, followed by a year of probation.

Morrison said he is not questioning the charges in the plea or the sentence.

“This deal was agreed on by everybody,” he said. “We thought it was important that he be convicted of a crime involving misuse of authority, and we felt strongly that he should do time in a county jail just to make the point.”

According to court records, Lane accepted more than $1,200 in carpet from carpet business owner Gaylord Johnson and a $100 gift certificate at Ruth’s Chris Steak House from Michael Eskina.

Johnson and Eskina had been arrested for driving under the influence in separate incidents in 2004, and Lane took gifts from the men as incentive to conceal or destroy evidence of their DUI tickets, according to records.

Morrison said the case remains under investigation.

“There’s still a lot going on because we believe there are others involved,” he said.

Former Edwardsville Police Chief Steve Vaughan had faced charges, but the misdemeanors against him were dismissed in June because of speedy-trial issues.

The attorney general’s office began investigating the ticket fixing at the request of the Edwardsville police union, which alleged that City Council members were interfering with tickets.

It is not clear whether Lane will serve out his council term, which expires in April 2009. He is in his second four-year term.

“I would not be surprised to receive his resignation,” Edwardsville Mayor William “Heinz” Rodgers said Wednesday, adding that he had not heard from Lane.

In addition to being a councilman, Lane has worked as a police officer in Kansas City, Kan., where he spent several years as a homicide detective, Morrison said. But with the conviction, Lane must surrender his law enforcement certification, the attorney general said.