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Shawnee County DA Will Resume Taking Domestic Abuse Cases

By Stephen Koranda, Kansas Public Radio

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-989782.mp3

TOPEKA, Ks. – Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor says he will once again prosecute domestic battery cases from Topeka. Taylor's office and the Topeka City Council had been in a month-long standoff over who should prosecute the crimes.

After taking a budget cut, Taylor's office stopped prosecuting misdemeanor domestic abuse cases from Topeka.

The city of Topeka also said they didn't have the resources to handle the cases. The city council even took the step of repealing their domestic abuse ordinance in an effort to force the DA's office to take the cases.

It appears that move worked.

Taylor blasted city officials in a statement, saying his office will now have to handle the cases with fewer staff and resources.

The move ends a strange scenario, where people arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery in Topeka were being released without charges.

 

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