SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - As lawmakers dealt with one scandal last winter, they considered establishing a code of ethics for elected officials.

The state Senate unanimously approved a bill calling for a special committee to be appointed to write an ethics code for the Legislature. The measure later died in a House committee.

Now that another case alleging inappropriate sexual activity has surfaced, some lawmakers think the ethics code should be revisited.

On Friday, former state Rep. Red Klaudt, R-Walker, was arrested on rape and various other charges involving two foster daughters. Klaudt left jail after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bond on four second-degree rape charges filed against him in Hughes County.

State Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, said South Dakota is behind other states when it comes to holding lawmakers to moral standards by law. Many businesses and governments have set up codes of ethics, Knudson said.

Ethical standards could be enforced through a written document, a group of people who form an ethics committee or a combination, he said.

It will be difficult for lawmakers to agree on such a code, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try, Knudson said.

State Sen. Tom Dempster, R-Sioux Falls, agreed.

"It's a very difficult thing to do, (but) that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. That's probably one of the reasons it does need to be done," he said.

There's no question that the things Klaudt is accused of doing are wrong, Dempster said.

"That's flat out against the law. It's pretty easy," he said.

Both lawmakers say they expect a code of ethics discussion to come up again during the 2008 session.

The rejection of the special committee to write a code of ethics occurred after state Sen. Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, was accused of inappropriate activity with a legislative page. He was officially reprimanded by the state Senate.