Argus Calls for Bed Checks for Pages

The Argus Leader is calling for bed checks for legislative pages:

At the very least, we should know where legislative pages live while they serve each year at the Capitol in Pierre.

And that's just the start.

A panel of legislative leaders recommended this week that a system of random checks should be installed to make sure the pages - high school students who run errands and answer phones for lawmakers - are living where they say they are.

That comes in the wake of allegations that a state senator groped a page in a Pierre hotel room.

To some, it may seem like unnecessary meddling in the affairs of families - presumably these high school students' parents are involved in these living arrangements - but the state has a responsibility as well.

Just knowing where pages are living, and double checking to make sure it's true, seems like a small first step, given the recent allegations.

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The state has a responsibility to oversee the pages to at least a minimum level while they are serving the Legislature. That doesn't mean watching over every action they take; we don't become their parents. But we need to do more than we are.