South Carolina has gone from No. 1 in the nation in the rate of women killed by men a couple of years ago to No. 6 today, according to the Violence Policy Center. That's better, thanks to passage of stiffer domestic abuse laws and a special fund to pay for more domestic violence prosecutors, but there's still room for improvement.

One area of improvement would be to pass a bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, that would put first-offense domestic violence cases in general sessions and summary courts. This might seem like a technical change, but it would, according to prosecutors, make an important difference.

It would centralize first-offense cases in a few courts instead of having them scattered throughout the circuit, therefore making it easier to keep track of the cases. Second-offense domestic violence cases already are sent to general sessions court, so why not first offenders too?

As one solicitor points out, a first offense usually means it's the first time the abuser's been charged. It's not likely the first time he's abused. No one beats his spouse just once. It makes good sense to centralize all the cases, including first offenders.

The problem is, because of a legislative glitch Herbkersman's measure missed the crossover deadline of May 1 - the date when each chamber must pass any bills it wants the other chamber to take up - which means it will now take a two-thirds majority of both chambers to consider the bill.

Usually that's a tough hurdle to clear, but it's hard to see how a measure designed to streamline domestic abuse cases could generate the kind of controversy to prevent the bill's advancement. Every South Carolina legislator should be eager to shake the state's reputation of being soft on domestic violence.