Representatives for Attorney General Jim Ryan want to assure customers who were overcharged for gas shortly after Sept. 11’s terrorist attacks that they will be refunded.

After receiving more than 1,400 complaints about gasoline price-gouging in West-Central and Southern Illinois, Ryan has filed a civil lawsuit against Casey’s General Store Inc., placing limitations on local pricing in response to the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

“We found they lowered their prices soon after we made notice that we were looking into it,” Ryan spokesman Dan Anders said.

Jim Shaffer, Casey’s chief financial adviser, admitted that several stores in Illinois had raised prices dramatically, but denied that they were lowered after the lawsuit was announced. Most prices hit well over the $2 mark.

“As soon as our corporate offices heard about the prices rising at our stores, we contacted them and had them lower those prices,” Shaffer said. “All our prices were back to normal by Tuesday evening, and we were already issuing refunds to patrons later that night. The litigation was introduced on Wednesday afternoon.”

Anders disagrees, saying the attorney general received complaints of high prices Wednesday as well.

Shaffer attributes the rise in prices to individual stores’ decisions. He said each store is allowed to set prices in order to allow them to react to local markets.

“We have used this system well for 33 years,” Shaffer said. “What happened last Tuesday was local owners reacting to a day filled with rumors, misinformation and panic about gasoline supplies and prices.”

Not all Casey’s gas stations are cited in the lawsuit. The price gouging suit is aimed primarily at Central and Southern Illinois stations, Anders said.

“This incident only is aimed at a limited number of our stores,” Shaffer said. “The majority of our stores held the line.”

The lawsuit cites violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act for Casey’s stores in Andalusia, Port Byron, Peoria, West Peoria, Monmouth, Galesburg, Belleville, Chillicothe, Farmington, North Pekin, Pekin, Morton and Creve Coeur. Additional lawsuits may be possible.

Anders said the company could be fined up to $50,000 for the rises in prices under the act. He also said the attorney general’s office is reviewing complaints against gas stations owned by other companies, but no action has been taken as of yet.