As the owner of an internet company, Pete Ashdown says he is uneasy with the Utah Legislature's effort to expand its power to demand information on his customers without getting a warrant.

ßHB150, sponsored by Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, would significantly expand the powers of prosecutors -- all the way down to the city level -- to issue a subpoena seeking an Internet or cell phone customer's name, address, phone number, bank account information and length of service without going to a judge.

Currently, the information can only be sought if the prosecutor suspects a child sex crime is occurring. Daw's bill would expand the authority to include suspected cases of child kidnapping, stalking and harassment.

"The more and more they're broadened, the more it becomes a possibility of fighting it," said Pete Ashdown, who was the 2006 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee. "I think the administrative subpoenas have way overextended their reach."

The Attorney General's Office, which is arguing for the expanded authority, said the subpoena power could help identify potential perpetrators of numerous crimes. Originally, Daw sought to give prosecutors the subpoena power for any felony, but it was scaled back after concerns were expressed about the breadth of the proposal.

There have been more than 200 administrative subpoenas issued since the Legislature granted the authority in child sex crime investigations last spring.

After about 40 minutes of debate Wednesday, a Senate committee adjourned without voting on Daw's expansion. It already has passed the House and can go to the Senate floor without a Senate hearing.

The bill also was resisted by a conservative think tank, the Sutherland Institute.

"Administrative subpoenas are inherently unconstitutional because they allow an executive official and prosecutor to conduct a search and seizure without the oversight of a judge issuing a warrant," said Stan Rasmussen, the institute's representative. He said that Sutherland supports stopping criminals, but "not through any means that violates basic constitutional liberties."