City prosecutors confirmed Friday that they have dropped charges against a Lawrence nightclub owner accused of violating the city’s smoking ban because they said the case was no longer worth their time.

But Dennis Steffes, owner of Coyotes and Last Call, said city prosecutors have dropped charges against him because they are afraid if the case proceeded the city’s smoking ban may be ruled unconstitutional.

“It was a game of chicken and they swerved,” Steffes said about the city’s action.

Steffes, though, said he’ll ask Douglas County District Court Judge Jack Murphy to allow the case to continue because the dismissal of charges does nothing to address the arguments Steffes has made that the ban is unconstitutional.

“I have been in business in this town for 22 years,” Steffes said. “I’m tired of just fading out and going away. This (ban) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m going to see this through. We have to reach a compromise on this.”

City prosecutor Jerry Little, though, said the city’s decision to drop the charges has nothing to do with a fear that it would lose an argument about the constitutionality of the ban.

“We looked at this from a cost-benefit analysis and it is just not worth the $100 fine that is at stake,” Little said. “We don’t want to waste the court’s time here. But we’re prepared to defend the constitutionality of the ordinance, if that is what is needed.”

But Little said the city’s position is that Steffes no longer has legal standing to make the constitutional challenge since there are no longer charges pending against him.

Steffes was charged with five counts of violating the city’s smoking ban in April. The city’s Municipal Court found him innocent of on four of the five counts. He appealed his one conviction to Douglas County District Court.