Missouri and Illinois leaders are calling for both states to decontaminate homes where methamphetamine was made and publish their locations following revelations that residents unknowingly move into former meth labs with toxic residue.

The proposals follow a Post-Dispatch investigation that found residents in both states routinely move into homes considered so toxic they'd be condemned in other states with tougher laws. Some residents complained of symptoms experts have linked to meth exposure.

"This absolutely should be one of our priorities going forward," said Cara Smith, the Illinois attorney general's deputy chief of staff.

Leaders from both parties in both states are pushing for a range of reforms they say are key to protecting residents from the effects of thousands of homes and apartments left contaminated in both states.

Unlike 18 states, neither Missouri nor Illinois require that homes be cleaned before new residents can move in. Nor do they publish online lists of all addresses busted — even though both states rank among the top five for labs busted in 2007.

Missouri has a law that requires home sellers and landlords to tell new residents of a meth lab, but the law does not include criminal penalties.

The newspaper found that in a survey of more than 30 new residents in former Missouri labs, only three were told before they moved in. That left Attorney General Jay Nixon, the Democratic candidate for governor, calling for an online database and a tougher notification law.

"The disclosure requirements must include a penalty provision, so that sellers are held accountable and innocent homebuyers are protected," said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur.

Republican candidate Kenny Hulshof did not return phone calls.

Candidates to replace Nixon as attorney general also pledged their support for tougher laws.

Republican Michael Gibbons said property records of meth labs should be flagged in recorders' offices so homes' histories can't be hidden from title searches done before homes are purchased. For rental units, Gibbons also said building inspectors should make cleanups a requirement to secure occupancy permits.

"Regardless of the level of contamination, we need to let the new purchaser or new tenant have the opportunity to examine it themselves and determine it's safe or decide it isn't safe," he said.

Democrat Chris Koster said he wanted the Missouri Highway Patrol to post a database of meth lab addresses online and require real estate agents to check the database for clients.

"I also support cleanup laws to prevent homebuyers from being trapped and threatened by the criminal enterprise of the previous owners," he said in an e-mail.

A longtime advocate for tougher meth laws, state Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, said he'd push legislation to mandate cleanups. Roorda, a former police officer, said he also wanted to make it a crime if a seller or landlord doesn't tell new residents about a contaminated home.

"Our (current) meth disclosure law is a mess," he said.

Illinois doesn't have a disclosure law. State Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, pushed for one in 2007, but it stalled in the House.

Now, he wants a tougher law, but wouldn't commit to specifics.

House Speaker Michael Madigan's office also wouldn't pledge support for specifics, but said it was "critically important" that new residents were told when moving into a former lab.

"These properties clearly represent real public health hazards," said Steve Brown, Madigan's spokesman.

In the meantime, Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office plans this week to work with the Illinois Department of Public Health to ensure that police provide the agency with all addresses of busts so it can publish the addresses online, Smith said.

"That information should absolutely be online in an easy-to-search format for anyone in Illinois moving into these homes," she said. "Giving people this information is critically important."

cbyers@post-dispatch.com | 636-937-6249