Governor Mark Parkinson, seated at left, completes a ceremonial bill signing of an omnibus crime bill at West Junior High on Monday. Joining him is Attorney General Steve Six of Lawrence. Standing from left are Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence and Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence and Rep. Barbara Ballard D-Lawrence.

State leaders were in Lawrence Monday morning for a ceremonial signing of legislation that closes a loophole in a state crime law and that was inspired by a December 2007 incident near West Junior High School.

After leading police on a high-speed chase, 48-year-old Stephen Stout was arrested for trying to entice a 13-year-old girl into his van and then exposing himself to three girls outside the school, 2700 Harvard Road, prosecutors said.

“Given the history of this individual, we wanted to, of course, get the strongest sentence we could to take this person off the streets,” said Steve Six, attorney general.

But the language of a state law didn’t allow Stout to be charged with running from officers, because the officers were in an unmarked police car — one with lights and sirens, but without police decals.

The bill changes the wording of the state statute and allows prosecutors to charge crime suspects for fleeing officers who are driving an unmarked police vehicle.

“We were able to fix this gap and it’s a gap that will not only help with sex offenders, but will help with other types of offenders as well,” said Gov. Mark Parkinson, who joined Six and other state and local leaders in celebrating the passage of the new legislation, which was officially signed into law May 21.

The efforts to change the law were led by Paul Davis, Lawrence state representative and House minority leader, after the Stout incident.

“This is a situation I have no doubt will unfortunately be repeated and we want to be able to give law enforcement all the tools they need to apprehend people like Mr. Stout,” Davis said. “Law enforcement is going to be able to utilize this statute in the future, and people are going to be prosecuted under it and get the punishment that they deserve.”

Stout, of Johnson County, was sentenced to serve nearly 3 1/2 years for the sex crimes, following two similar convictions in Douglas County and Missouri, Six said. The new crime legislation could have kept Stout behind bars for up to 11 months longer, and will ultimately ensure that others who run from law enforcement will be eligible for the same penalty.

Lawrence Police Chief Ron Olin said police have several unmarked cars that are used primarily by detectives and police administrators, and he’s satisfied all police cars in the state are now deemed legitimate.

“There’s no longer the excuse of not seeing the logo on the side of the car,” Olin said.

The legislation was a part of the Omnibus Crime Bill, which includes several other law changes. It also strengthens the sentence for those convicted of making or trafficking drugs and, in some cases, for those possessing drugs if the offender carries or shoots a firearm during the crime.