HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut’s chief state’s attorney is seeking an arrest warrant for former Gov. John G. Rowland, his attorney said Monday.

Rowland has been in federal prison since April in Loretto, Pa., after pleading guilty last December to a charge he conspired to trade his office for favors and to commit tax fraud.

He had been a target of state prosecutors because of consulting work he accepted after he resigned from office a year ago. Investigators are looking at the possibility the work violated the state’s “revolving door” laws.

R. Bartley Halloran, Rowland’s attorney, said he does not know the specific charges, but believes they have to do with Rowland’s employment after leaving office.

“We feel that on the facts of the law that he has committed no crime and our great worry would be whether or not he could get a fair trial,” Halloran said.

Rowland resigned on July 1, 2004, amid allegations he accepted gifts from state contractors, employees and others. He pleaded guilty in December to a single felony count, acknowledging he traded his office for more than $100,000 in repairs to his cottage, private flights to Las Vegas and Vermont vacations.

If Rowland is charged with a state crime, he would have to be transferred to a Connecticut prison and await trial, Halloran said. The former governor’s family is concerned about Rowland’s safety if that happens, he added.

“His wife and children are extremely upset,” Halloran said. Rowland’s wife, Patricia, did not return a message seeking comment.

Halloran said Rowland offered to waive the statute of limitations on the state charges until after he finishes his federal sentence. However, Halloran said Morano declined.

“It’s a crushing blow to him, but he’s going to fight these charges,” Halloran said of Rowland, who is expected to finish his federal sentence on Feb. 10, 2006.

A message seeking comment was left Monday with Chief State’s Attorney Christopher Morano.

The Government Administration and Elections Committee examined whether Rowland violated ethics laws by possibly lobbying too soon after leaving state service.

The two companies, both state contractors, paid Rowland a total of $15,000 a month.

A lawyer for Klewin Building Co. told lawmakers that Klewin hired Rowland to set up meetings on bond issues and meet with developers for Indian casinos in New York.

Rowland’s contract with the Georgia-based National Science Center Foundation and Connecticut’s technical school system was intended to expand a pilot program that used computers to connect math skills to specific trades.