Some state prosecutors claim stiffer penalties actually could create conditions in which fewer abusers end up behind bars. Under the new law, a second offense requires mandatory jail time, but that also increases the likelihood that defendants will decide to take their chances on a trial. As a result, domestic violence cases will take longer to reach a court and jury, and defendants ultimately may be more likely to go free.

Solution: More prosecutors. That's what state Attorney General Henry McMaster proposed during a recent hearing by a joint House and Senate committee studying ways to reduce domestic violence.

McMaster thinks the state should spend $2.2 million a year to hire criminal domestic violence prosecutors for each of the state's 46 counties and set up centralized courts to handle those cases. He argues that hiring more prosecutors would help assure victims that abusers will face justice in a timely manner. That, in turn, should help reduce the number of victims who refuse to testify against their tormentors.

McMaster noted that domestic violence continues to be one of the state's most pressing problems. Each year, police handle 36,000 incident reports of domestic violence. Yet despite increased efforts to confront the problem, South Carolina remains No. 1 in the nation in the number of women killed by men and No. 3 in overall domestic violence.

York County has taken steps to address domestic violence in its own back yard. In May, the County Council committed $40,000 -- a 25 percent match for federal grant money -- to pay for the Sheriff's Office to hire an investigator and the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office to hire an attorney to represent abuse victims in court.

The county also has a pro bono program in which local attorneys help prosecute domestic violence cases. Before that program was instituted, police officers often had to represent victims in lower-level domestic violence cases.

Even with these improvements, a prosecutor paid by the state to do nothing but handle domestic abuse cases would be a welcome addition not only to York County but to every county in the state. And with a reduction in trial delays, fewer defendants might decide to take their chances with a jury.

The state was correct to increase the penalties for domestic abuse. We hope lawmakers will follow up with the manpower to ensure that those laws are enforced.