HB 334: "An Act relating to visitation and child custody."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 334 01 "An Act relating to visitation and child custody." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 25.20.061 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 25.20.061. Visitation in proceedings involving domestic violence. If 05 visitation is awarded to a parent who has been convicted of [COMMITTED] a crime 06 involving domestic violence, against the other parent or a child of the two parents, 07 within the five years preceding the award of visitation, the court may set conditions for 08 the visitation, including 09 (1) the transfer of the child for visitation must occur in a protected 10 setting; 11 (2) visitation shall be supervised by another person or agency and 12 under specified conditions as ordered by the court; 13 (3) the perpetrator shall attend and complete, to the satisfaction of the 14 court, a program for the rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic violence that meets 15 the standards set by the Department of Corrections under AS 44.28.020(b), or other
01 counseling; the perpetrator shall be required to pay the costs of the program or other 02 counseling; 03 (4) the perpetrator shall abstain from possession or consumption of 04 alcohol or controlled substances during the visitation and for 24 hours before 05 visitation; 06 (5) the perpetrator shall pay costs of supervised visitation as set by the 07 court; 08 (6) the prohibition of overnight visitation; 09 (7) the perpetrator shall post a bond to the court for the return and 10 safety of the child; and 11 (8) any other condition necessary for the safety of the child, the other 12 parent, or other household member. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 25.20.095(g) is amended to read: 14 (g) In making a determination of the best interests of the child, the court shall 15 consider the factors under AS 25.24.150(c) and apply the rebuttable presumption 16 under AS 25.24.150(g) to visitation, delegation, and custody orders issued under this 17 section. In addition, there is a rebuttable presumption that a deployed parent's 18 visitation rights may not be delegated to a family member who has been convicted of 19 a crime involving [A HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence against a 20 spouse, a child, or a domestic living partner, or to a family member with an individual 21 in the family member's household who has been convicted of a crime involving [A 22 HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence against a spouse, a child, or a 23 domestic living partner. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 25.20.110(g) is amended to read: 25 (g) In making a determination of the best interests of the child, the court shall 26 consider the factors under AS 25.24.150(c) and apply the rebuttable presumption 27 under AS 25.24.150(g) to visitation, delegation, and custody orders issued under this 28 section. In addition, there is a rebuttable presumption that a deployed parent's 29 visitation rights may not be delegated to a family member who has been convicted of 30 a crime involving [A HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence against a 31 spouse, a child, or a domestic living partner, or to a family member with an individual
01 in the family member's household who has been convicted of a crime involving [A 02 HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence against a spouse, a child, or a 03 domestic living partner. 04 * Sec. 4. AS 25.24.150(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) The court shall determine custody in accordance with the best interests of 06 the child under AS 25.20.060 - 25.20.130. In determining the best interests of the child 07 the court shall consider 08 (1) the physical, emotional, mental, religious, and social needs of the 09 child; 10 (2) the capability and desire of each parent to meet these needs; 11 (3) the child's preference if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to 12 form a preference; 13 (4) the love and affection existing between the child and each parent; 14 (5) the length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory 15 environment and the desirability of maintaining continuity; 16 (6) the willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and 17 encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child, 18 except that the court may not consider this willingness and ability if one parent has 19 been convicted of a crime involving sexual assault or [SHOWS THAT THE 20 OTHER PARENT HAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED OR ENGAGED IN] domestic 21 violence against the other parent or a child, and that a continuing relationship with the 22 [OTHER] parent will endanger the health or safety of either the other parent or the 23 child; 24 (7) any evidence of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, or 25 child neglect in the proposed custodial household or a history of violence between the 26 parents; 27 (8) evidence that substance abuse by either parent or other members of 28 the household directly affects the emotional or physical well-being of the child; 29 (9) other factors that the court considers pertinent. 30 * Sec. 5. AS 25.24.150(g) is amended to read: 31 (g) There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent who has been convicted of
01 a crime involving [A HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence against 02 the other parent, a child, or a domestic living partner may not be awarded sole legal 03 custody, sole physical custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody of a child. 04 * Sec. 6. AS 25.24.150(h) is amended to read: 05 (h) [A PARENT HAS A HISTORY OF PERPETRATING DOMESTIC 06 VIOLENCE UNDER (g) OF THIS SECTION IF THE COURT FINDS THAT, 07 DURING ONE INCIDENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, THE PARENT CAUSED 08 SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY OR THE COURT FINDS THAT THE PARENT 09 HAS ENGAGED IN MORE THAN ONE INCIDENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.] 10 The presumption under (g) of this section may be overcome by a preponderance of 11 the evidence that the perpetrating parent has successfully completed an intervention 12 program for batterers, where reasonably available, that the parent does not engage in 13 substance abuse, and that the best interests of the child require that parent's 14 participation as a custodial parent because the other parent is absent, suffers from a 15 diagnosed mental illness that affects parenting abilities, or engages in substance abuse 16 that affects parenting abilities, or because of other circumstances that affect the best 17 interests of the child. 18 * Sec. 7. AS 25.24.150(i) is amended to read: 19 (i) If the court finds that both parents have been convicted of a crime 20 involving [A HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence under (g) of this 21 section, the court shall either 22 (1) award sole legal and physical custody to the parent who is less 23 likely to continue to perpetrate the violence and require that the custodial parent 24 complete a treatment program; or 25 (2) if necessary to protect the welfare of the child, award sole legal or 26 physical custody, or both, to a suitable third person if the person would not allow 27 access to a violent parent except as ordered by the court. 28 * Sec. 8. AS 25.24.150(j) is amended to read: 29 (j) If the court finds that a parent has been convicted of a crime involving [A 30 HISTORY OF PERPETRATING] domestic violence under (g) of this section, the 31 court shall allow only supervised visitation by that parent with the child, conditioned
01 on that parent's participating in and successfully completing an intervention program 02 for batterers, and a parenting education program, where reasonably available, except 03 that the court may allow unsupervised visitation if it is shown by a preponderance of 04 the evidence that the violent parent has completed a substance abuse treatment 05 program if the court considers it appropriate, is not abusing alcohol or psychoactive 06 drugs, does not pose a danger of mental or physical harm to the child, and 07 unsupervised visitation is in the child's best interests. 08 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to visitation and custody orders issued on or after 11 the effective date of this Act.