(The Daily Advertiser) – The District Attorney’s lawsuit against Lafayette Consolidated Government over funding was dismissed Tuesday at the DA’s request.

Still to be resolved are the lack of revenue to fund parish government operations and a cross-claim by LCG challenging how the DA allocates expenses among three parishes in the 15th Judicial District.

“It’s time for me to get back to prosecuting instead of litigating,” District Attorney Keith Stutes said Tuesday following a court hearing in which his writ against LCG was dismissed.

Stutes told The Daily Advertiser he asked to drop his lawsuit after the Lafayette City-Parish Council on June 7 voted to cut some $600,000 from his budget. He filed a lawsuit in May to stop the cuts and force LCG to pay the salaries and other expenses parish governments are required to pay by state mandate.

LCG officials said the parish account of city-parish government doesn’t have the money to pay the DA’s expenses. The previous DA, Mike Harson, had agreed to reimburse LCG for those expenses. Stutes, who took office in January 2015, told LCG he would not continue the reimbursements, which led to the court challenge.

Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux responded to the news saying,

“This is the time to focus on the financial difficulties of the Parish General Fund. Now that the DA’s lawsuit against Lafayette Consolidated Government has been voluntarily dismissed, I look forward to resolving the serious budgetary issues surrounding the upcoming 2016-2017 Parish Budget. Funding the District Attorney’s office is only one of Parish Government’s mandated components. There are also significant un-mandated services to be considered including drainage, roads, bridges and fire protection. I am moving ahead to bring every stakeholder to the table in an effort to craft a solution that works for all of Lafayette Parish.”