Kay Fleming with her son Seth (WIBC.com photo: Eric Berman)

Democrats' nominee for attorney general says she'll make the performance of Indiana's Department of Child Services a central issue of her campaign.

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A legislative study committee is reviewing DCS following media reports of abuse and neglect deaths in households the agency was monitoring. Indianapolis attorney Kay Fleming says she doesn't know precisely how, but says Attorney General Greg Zoeller should be playing a more active role.

"I want to take time to explore those ideas before coming forward with a platform at this point, but that is something we are looking at at this point in time," Fleming said at an introductory news conference. "It's not a simple fix, so I don't want to give an answer right now until I've had more time to explore that."

Fleming calls Zoeller a "fine person" who's done a "fine job," but says she'd do a "great job." She jabs Zoeller for pursuing issues she says are less critical to protecting children, though she acknowledges the attorney general has an obligation to defend the state in court. Zoeller's office has represented the state in a string of lawsuits filed over initiatives passed by the Republican legislature, including a crackdown on illegal aliens, the defunding of Planned Parenthood, private-school vouchers, and right-to-work.

Fleming is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. She'll formally join the ticket at the party convention on Saturday.