Committee moves substitute to allow parents to petition for custody time regardless of when permanent order was entered

Representative Watkins presented a substantial substitute to House Bill 105 that the sponsor said differs significantly from the original bill. The substitute permits a parent, who has not had parental rights terminated and whose children are living with a spouse or former spouse, to file a petition to seek custody time if a "substantial and material change of circumstance" has occurred, "regardless of when the order granting permanent custody and guardianship to the child's other parent was entered."

The committee had brief clarifying questions from Representative Miller and then moved the first substitute on a motion from Representative Miller. The motion to adopt the substitute and the committee’s subsequent favorable recommendation to the House both passed unanimously on roll call.

Representative Watkins said the substitute was drafted in response to a local attorney and to concerns about people who had turned their lives around after earlier orders but lacked a path to petition for custody time under last year’s law.