Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Topeka, Kansas, too poor to prosecute household mistreatment cases

In this Domestic Violence Awareness Month of October, victims of the offense are being left out in the cold in Topeka, Kan.. This is because the city has discovered that it no longer has the budget in place to prosecute misdemeanor household abuse situations, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Topeka's county base of Shawnee doesn't have the money to take up the slack, meaning abusers might soon be free.

They don’t need help

The Topeka, Kan., city officials have decided they will trust abusers to fix themselves. Officials in the city and county are not interested in much else. They haven’t done other things, it seems. From the Capital-Journal:

“In August, the Shawnee County Commission cut [Shawnee County District Attor-ney Chad] Taylor's 2012 budget by 10 percent, or $347,765, from its 2011 budget of $3,477,651. In the meantime, police spokeswoman Kristen Veverka confirmed that 16 people have been ar-rested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery since Sept. 8 but were released from the Shawnee County Jail after charges weren't filed.”

An alarm was issued by Joyce Martin, who's CEO of the Topeka YWCA.

“The ongoing concern regarding the Shawnee County district attorney’s office prosecution of misdemeanor cases, particularly domestic battery, must be resolved in the inter-ests of victim safety,” she wrote in a public statement. “The organization believes that some of the most vulnerable members of our community have been placed in danger.”

Protocols to meet

In 2009, the YWCA worked with the Topeka district attorney's department, law enforcement department, Shawnee County sheriff and the 3rd District Court Services to install “community protocols” for responding to and prosecuting household abuse cases. Martin said that Topeka District Attorney Chad Taylor supports these protocols promising to “aggres-sively prosecute domestic violence,” “review household abuse cases as first priority” and “charge the cases that meet suf-ficient evidence to prosecute the suit.”

As budgets are dropping, officials are worried about losing these protocols.

“When an abusive partner is arrested, the victim’s danger level increases,” said Becky Dickinson, interim director of the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control. Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions.”

Getting things prosecuted

Jeff Wagaman is the Kansas lawyer general spokesman. He said that all misdemeanor domestic mistreatment cases must be prosecuted by local authorities as a law in Kanas requires. Soon, the spending budget is expected to drop quite a bit. That means that domes-tic abuse could go untouched soon.

“We hope this dispute is quickly resolved in the best interest of public safety,” said Wagaman.

Seeing a legal battle occurring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWYlgYCnzhE

Citations

Domestic Violence Awareness Month: http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth.php

Gawker: http://gawker.com/5847619/enjoy-hitting-your-spouse-move-to-topeka

Think Progress: http://bit.ly/oJAg2M

Topeka Capital-Journal: http://bit.ly/nyGXmK

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Could Supplemental Security Income house the homeless?

A board and care resident proposes a possible solution

In this Domestic Violence Awareness Month of October, victims of the offense are being left out in the cold in Topeka, Kan.. This is because the city has discovered that it no longer has the budget in place to prosecute misdemeanor household abuse situations, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Topeka's county base of Shawnee doesn't have the money to take up the slack, meaning abusers might soon be free.

They don’t need help

The Topeka, Kan., city officials have decided they will trust abusers to fix themselves. Officials in the city and county are not interested in much else. They haven’t done other things, it seems. From the Capital-Journal:

“In August, the Shawnee County Commission cut [Shawnee County District Attor-ney Chad] Taylor's 2012 budget by 10 percent, or $347,765, from its 2011 budget of $3,477,651. In the meantime, police spokeswoman Kristen Veverka confirmed that 16 people have been ar-rested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery since Sept. 8 but were released from the Shawnee County Jail after charges weren't filed.”

An alarm was issued by Joyce Martin, who's CEO of the Topeka YWCA.

“The ongoing concern regarding the Shawnee County district attorney’s office prosecution of misdemeanor cases, particularly domestic battery, must be resolved in the inter-ests of victim safety,” she wrote in a public statement. “The organization believes that some of the most vulnerable members of our community have been placed in danger.”

Protocols to meet

In 2009, the YWCA worked with the Topeka district attorney's department, law enforcement department, Shawnee County sheriff and the 3rd District Court Services to install “community protocols” for responding to and prosecuting household abuse cases. Martin said that Topeka District Attorney Chad Taylor supports these protocols promising to “aggres-sively prosecute domestic violence,” “review household abuse cases as first priority” and “charge the cases that meet suf-ficient evidence to prosecute the suit.”

As budgets are dropping, officials are worried about losing these protocols.

“When an abusive partner is arrested, the victim’s danger level increases,” said Becky Dickinson, interim director of the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control. Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions.”

Getting things prosecuted

Jeff Wagaman is the Kansas lawyer general spokesman. He said that all misdemeanor domestic mistreatment cases must be prosecuted by local authorities as a law in Kanas requires. Soon, the spending budget is expected to drop quite a bit. That means that domes-tic abuse could go untouched soon.

“We hope this dispute is quickly resolved in the best interest of public safety,” said Wagaman.

Seeing a legal battle occurring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWYlgYCnzhE

Citations

Domestic Violence Awareness Month: http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth.php

Gawker: http://gawker.com/5847619/enjoy-hitting-your-spouse-move-to-topeka

Think Progress: http://bit.ly/oJAg2M

Topeka Capital-Journal: http://bit.ly/nyGXmK

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best of 2003: Best Women's Outreach Program

Next Article

Indian company Infosys to pay record immigration fine

Company abused H-1B rules — should Qualcomm be worried?
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader