Even though no formal legislation has been drafted, Rep. John Bradley's proposal to create mandatory background checks for online dating sites has already garnered national attention.

On Tuesday, USA TODAY featured the Marion Democrat's idea of conducting criminal background checks in one of its technology stories. And on Monday, Bradley is scheduled to appear on FOX News "Your World With Neil Cavuto." The show airs at 3 p.m.

"I guess I've gotten some people stirred up," Bradley said in a phone interview. "I think most of the people are saying, 'yes, we need it.' Of course the industry is fighting it pretty significantly, it appears."

So how did Bradley, a married man, get interested in the online dating issue?

"That was a constituent concern," he said. "It just seemed like common sense to me that there would be some kind of peripheral background check. People come to me with ideas all the time. I just had no idea it was going to take off like this."

Bradley is having the bill drafted and it should be introduced to the General Assembly in January.

Similar proposals have been considered by legislatures in six other states, but none have been passed.

nicole.sack@thesouthern.com

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