Suspects in Topeka domestic violence cases are leaving jail without being charged, and advocates for abuse survivors say victims are growing more scared amid a public squabble over who should pay to prosecute the crimes. 
 
 Ashley Barnes, front, the president of the Lawrence, Kan., chapter of the National Organization for Women, watches the Topeka City Council discuss repealing the Kansas capital's ordinance against domestic... (Associated Press) 
 
 Topeka City Councilman Richard Harmon, left, discusses repealing the city's ordinance against domestic violence as fellow Councilman Andrew Gray, right, listens, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, in Topeka, Kan.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters gather outside the Shawnee County Courthouse over a decision by District Attorney Chad Taylor to stop pursuing domestic violence and other misdemeanor cases, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, in Topeka,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The mayor and council of Kansas' capital city made a dramatic move Tuesday night in their ongoing clash with county officials by voting to repeal the city's ordinance against domestic violence. 
 
 The intent is to force the county's district attorney to back away from a budget-driven decision to stop prosecuting misdemeanors committed inside the city limits _ including domestic assault and battery not involving a weapon. 
 
 Advocates for victims of abuse slammed all sides of the debate. They're angry with the district attorney over his decision, furious with the mayor and City Council for repealing the ordinance and frustrated that officials can't resolve the budget dispute. 
 
 It's been a month since new prosecutions of domestic violence stopped in Topeka. 
 
 "It's a slam in our face," Claudine Dombrowski, an abuse survivor from Topeka, told the council. She showed her frustration by throwing dice down on the podium as she spoke, saying, "Roll the dice _ that's what we're playing here." 
 
 Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor contends the county commission forced his decision to cut the budget by 10 percent in 2012, with his office still swamped by felony cases. The city's leaders argue that it can't afford to create the services for domestic abuse victims and rent jail space from the county for suspects. 
 
 Also Tuesday night, the City Council authorized Dan Stanley, the interim city manager, to negotiate with county officials over the prosecution of domestic violence cases. He advocated repealing the ordinance, arguing it will help the city in talks with the county. 
 
 "I think it draws a line in the sand," he said. "It says we will remove all ambiguity from this question, and we will negotiate from a position of strength." 
 
 Taylor's spokesman, Dakota Loomis, called the city's decision "drastic and unprecedented" but said Taylor would re-evaluate his position. 
 
 "It just means there is a new dynamic in play," Loomis said. 
 
 Topeka has had at least 35 reported incidents of domestic battery or assault since early September. With those cases not being pursued, as of Friday, 18 people jailed have been released without facing charges, according to Topeka police. 
 
 Prosecutors and police have refused to discuss details of the cases out of concern for victims' privacy, making it difficult to assess in what situations suspects aren't being prosecuted. The use of a weapon in an assault or battery makes a crime a felony, which would be handled in state court. 
 
 "I absolutely do not understand it," Rita Smith, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said after the vote. "It's really outrageous that they're playing with family safety to see who blinks first. People could die while they're waiting to straighten this out." 
 
 It also didn't help that the repeal came during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. City and county officials reported receiving hundreds of emails in just days from people upset over the situation. 
 
 "Just the fact that it was on our agenda gave us a black eye," said City Councilwoman Denise Everhart, one of the three votes against repealing the ordinance. 
 
 Taylor has said he knew his decision would upset people but added that the cuts his office faces will force him to lay off 11 of his 63 employees. He said he considered employee furloughs and "every angle" before making his announcement in early September. 
 
 In a memo issued just days before the county commission finalized his budget for next year, Taylor's office said the cuts would force it to drop its prosecution of misdemeanors occurring within Topeka's city limits and "of greatest concern are domestic violence cases." 
 
 Topeka officials feared the city's ordinance against domestic violence could have forced the city to take over prosecuting cases and file them in its municipal court. Local officials said Topeka couldn't handle the $74-a-day cost per inmate of renting space from the county to jail several hundred suspected abusers or hiring additional staff to handle prosecutions. 
 
 The city already handled misdemeanor cases of simple assault and battery, and incidents of assault or battery against its police officers. Domestic assault or battery involves a person in the same household, and victims often need additional services or shelter. 
 
 For years, the city and county agreed that the district attorney's office would handle domestic violence prosecutions in the better-funded state courts. City officials also note that municipal court convictions can be appealed to state courts, anyway. 
 
 About two dozen protesters gathered outside the Shawnee County Courthouse to protest Taylor's decision Tuesday. Then, many of them went to the City Council meeting to show their opposition to its actions. 
 
 "Everyone's just saying, `Oh, it's not us you need to be talking to. It's this other person,'" said Hannah Rucker, a University of Kansas student among the protesters. "And it's just going in this circle of, `It's not my fault.'" ||||| Several victims of domestic violence spoke against the proposal at the meeting, questioning whether it would succeed in forcing the district attorney to resume prosecutions. “It is your responsibility to protect these people, and you’re failing,” said Matthew Agnew, 24, one such victim. 
 
 Eighteen people have been arrested on domestic violence charges since September and released without charges because no agency is accepting new cases. That has raised concerns among advocates for victims of domestic violence, some of whom gathered Tuesday outside government buildings to express outrage over the gamesmanship. 
 
 “To have public officials pointing fingers while victims of domestic violence are trying to figure out who will protect them is just stunning,” said Joyce Grover, executive director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. 
 
 Though Kansas and its capital city have fared better than much of the country in this struggling economy, they are not immune to fiscal strains. The district attorney’s budget of $3.5 million was cut by 10 percent, which would force about a dozen layoffs. Meanwhile the office is dealing with what Mr. Taylor describes as a “recent uptick in violent crime,” which he attributed to increased gang activity. 
 
 “At the end of the day, I feel like my office and public safety are a priority,” Mr. Taylor said. 
 
 But the decision by Mr. Taylor to respond to the budget cut by immediately refusing to prosecute misdemeanors in Topeka — though the cuts do not go into effect until next year — caught people off guard, especially given that he had written that the city “does not have the staff or infrastructure to provide victims of domestic violence with the level of service they have come to expect.” 
 
 But Mr. Taylor said the county “forced my hand.” 
 
 Shelly Buhler, chairwoman of the Shawnee County Commission, said she did not expect Mr. Taylor to actually go through with his threat to stop prosecuting domestic violence. 
 
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 She said that all departments were asked to propose 10 percent cuts and that he asked for an increase. “We had hoped that he would not put that group of victims at risk, that he would find some other way to absorb the cuts,” she said. 
 
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 Scott Burns, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association, said that around the country, prosecutors are being forced to prioritize certain types of cases, but that these decisions are rarely discussed in public. 
 
 “Usually no one comes out and says that starting today I’m not going to prosecute that crime, which sends a message of failure and tells the community you’re free to commit that crime,” he said. 
 
 The city, which had already completed its budget, would have to spend $1 million more to pay for the additional prosecutions, said Dan Stanley, the interim city manager. “Its wholly inappropriate for him to lay it at the lap of the county,” he said. 
 
 Under the current arrangement, the district attorney is still responsible for prosecuting misdemeanors in the rest of the county as well as all felony domestic violence cases. Almost half of the misdemeanors that were prosecuted last year — 423 cases — are domestic battery cases, and most of the rest are shoplifting, drugs and assault. 
 
 Some critics pointed out that even as local governments are cutting deeper into important services, Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, is preparing a sweeping tax cut plan. 
 
 Becky Dickinson, a program director with the Y.W.C.A., which is the primary provider of services for victims of domestic violence in the county, said there was concern that the lack of charges for those being arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence — which could include verbal threats, pushing or slapping — would encourage retaliation. 
 
 “Our biggest concern is the safety of the victims,” she said. “We need to get this resolved as soon as possible.” 
 
 Even those who agreed that the district attorney’s office was better positioned to handle such cases worried about the symbolism of a city that decided to decriminalize domestic violence, if only symbolically, rather than prosecuting the offenders. 
 
 Michelle Moorman, 21, a college student at the nearby University of Kansas who showed up to protest the cuts with her roommates, said she was surprised and embarrassed by the standoff. 
 
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 “Budget cuts are totally understandable, especially today,” she said. “What’s upsetting is this game of chicken between the city and the county.”
– Domestic abuse suspects are walking free in northeast Kansas because different arms of government can't agree on who should pay for their prosecution. Last night, Topeka's city council took the startling step of repealing the local law that makes domestic violence a crime, the New York Times reports. The move is aimed at making sure the city isn't stuck with the bill for domestic violence cases, which councilors say the county will now have to prosecute under state law—but the county DA, citing budget shortfalls, stopped pursuing domestic assault and other misdemeanor cases a month ago. “We had hoped that he would not put that group of victims at risk, that he would find some other way to absorb the cuts,” said a county official. "I absolutely do not understand it," the director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence said after the vote. "It's really outrageous that they're playing with family safety to see who blinks first. People could die while they're waiting to straighten this out." Since early September, there have been at least 35 reported incidents of domestic battery or assault and 18 suspects have been freed without charge because the cases against them were not pursued, the AP finds.