COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse Press Office) — A bill that would make equal sharing of child care the starting point for child custody lawsuits in Ohio passed an Ohio House committee Tuesday after the latest amendments did little to sway opposing legal and domestic violence groups. He gave another hour of divisive testimony.
House Bill 14, introduced early last year by Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) and Rep. Marilyn John (R-Richland County), has a long list of supporters and opponents. Unless a court finds overwhelming evidence that the arrangement harms the child, co-parenting will become the status quo across the state.
Currently, counties in Ohio differ in the way custody is handled in court. A few groups use roughly equal custody at the beginning, while others decide on the custodial parent from the beginning of the process.
Lawmakers on the House Families and Aging Committee amended the bill in November to change the court standard from clear and convincing evidence to a preponderance of the evidence and change the language from equality to “substantially” equality. We brought it back to parenting time and added courtroom investigations and elements.
Anthony Slosser said Tuesday he has been in and out of court trying to maintain custody of his 11-year-old son for most of his life. “I've seen my child's college fund become a lawyer's child's college fund. My retirement becomes the lawyer's retirement,” Slosser testified at the hearing.
Slosser and other supporters said the bill would establish equal standing for parents in court. But one of the many opponents, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN), characterizes the bill as “a transition from Ohio's current child-centered model to a parental rights model.”
ODVN Executive Director Mary O'Doherty said the revised version does not address the biggest problem with HB 14.
“This bill starts every family at the finish line,” O'Doherty testified. “This bill will have a chilling effect on victims who are afraid to come forward with evidence that the other parent is dangerous.”
The National Parenthood Association, which is pushing similar proposals in other states, also testified on the bill Tuesday. The Cleveland Legal Aid Society, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Dayton YWCA, and several other groups came to testify in opposition.
Creech, who is divorced himself, said he believed the bill would reduce the incentive for parents to fight.
“Now that we have kids 50% of the time, we don't fight over time anymore. In fact, I'd say I'm more lenient now. I can only take my kids four to six days a month. If that's my day off, I want that day off,'' Creech said at a press conference to introduce the program.
He introduced a similar bill in the last Congress. The proposal was signed by more than 50 lawmakers, but stalled in committee.
