HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The latest data released from the State of Kansas on Tuesday shows the number of domestic violence cases fell in Reno County compared with the previous year.

While any number is too high, the data released by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) shows there were 740 domestic violence cases in the county in 2018 compared with 822 in 2017. Of those cases, there were 456 arrests compared with 478 the previous year. The most number of cases was in Hutchinson with 668 cases. There were 56 in rural Reno County and 11 reported in South Hutchinson. Three domestic cases were reported in Haven and two in Buhler.

While the number of cases and arrests decreased the number of stalking cases increase from 113 in 2017 to 167 in 2018. Also on the increase was the number of rape cases in Reno County. In 2018 there were 35 reported rapes, a jump of 14 from just two years prior. The arrest rate for those cases was just 8.6 percent in Reno County.

The 2018 Domestic Violence, Stalking and Rape Report revealed 24,066 domestic violence incidents in the state, a 6% increase. A domestic violence incident was reported in the state every 21 minutes and 50 seconds, and a domestic violence arrest occurred every 43 minutes and 48 seconds.

There were 1,349 rapes reported to law enforcement in 2018, representing a 9 percent increase from the past year. A rape was reported in Kansas every 6 hours and 29 minutes. In 81.1% of rape incidents, the suspect was known to the victim.