OK
Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1766

Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB1766 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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5353 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
5454
5555 2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
5656
5757 SENATE BILL 1766 By: Jech
5858
5959
6060
6161
6262
6363 AS INTRODUCED
6464
6565 An Act relating to child custody; amending 43 O .S.
6666 2021, Sections 111.1 and 112, which r elate to
6767 visitation and care and custody of childr en;
6868 requiring written findings on certain determinations
6969 upon request; clarifying right to appeal certain
7070 orders; and providing an effective date .
7171
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7373
7474
7575 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKL AHOMA:
7676 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 111.1, is
7777 amended to read as follows:
7878 Section 111.1. A. 1. Any order providing for the visitation
7979 of a noncustodial parent with any of the children of such
8080 noncustodial parent shall provide a specified minimum amount of
8181 visitation between the noncustodial parent and the child unless the
8282 court determines otherwise.
8383 2. Except for good cause shown and when in the best interests
8484 of the child, the order shall encourage additional vi sitations of
8585 the noncustodial parent and the child and in addition encourage
8686 liberal telephone communications between the noncustodial parent and
8787 the child.
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139139 3. The court may award visitation by a noncustodial parent wh o
140140 was determined to have committed do mestic violence or engaged in
141141 stalking behavior as defined in Section 109 of this title, if the
142142 court is able to provide for the safety of the child and the parent
143143 who is the victim of that domestic violence.
144144 4. In a visitation order, the court shall prov ide for the
145145 safety of the minor child and victim o f domestic violence, stalking,
146146 or harassment as defined in Section 109 of this title, and subject
147147 to the provisions of Section 109 of this title, may:
148148 a. order the exchange of a child to be facilitated by a
149149 third party where the parents do not have any con tact
150150 with each other,
151151 b. order an exchange of a child to occur in a protected
152152 setting,
153153 c. order visitation supervised by another person or
154154 agency,
155155 d. order the abusive, stalking, or harassing parent to
156156 pay a fee to help defray the costs of supervised
157157 visitation or other costs of child exchanges,
158158 including compensating third parties,
159159 e. order the abusive, stalking, or harassing parent to
160160 attend and complete, to the satisfa ction of the court,
161161 an intervention program for batterers certified by the
162162 Office of the Attorney General,
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214214 f. prohibit unsupervised or overnight visitation until
215215 the abusive, stalking, or harassing parent has
216216 successfully completed a specialized program fo r
217217 abusers and the parent has neither threatened nor
218218 exhibited violence fo r a substantial period of time,
219219 g. order the abusive, stalking, or harassing parent to
220220 abstain from the possession or consumption of alcohol
221221 or controlled substances during the visita tion and for
222222 twenty-four (24) hours preceding visitation,
223223 h. order the abusive, stalkin g, or harassing parent to
224224 complete a danger/lethality assessment by a qualified
225225 mental health professional, and
226226 i. impose any other condition that is deemed necessary to
227227 provide for the safety of the child, the victim of
228228 domestic violence, stalking, or har assing behavior, or
229229 another household member.
230230 5. The court shall not order a victim of domestic violence,
231231 stalking, or harassment to be present during child visitation
232232 exchange if the victim of domestic vi olence, stalking, or harassment
233233 objects to being present.
234234 6. Visitation shall be terminated if:
235235 a. the abusive, stalking, or harassing parent repeatedly
236236 violates the terms and conditions of visitation,
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288288 b. the child becomes severely distressed in response to
289289 visitation, including the determination by a me ntal
290290 health professional or certified domestic violence
291291 specialist that visitation with the abusive, stalking,
292292 or harassing parent is causing the child severe
293293 distress which is not in the best interest of t he
294294 child, or
295295 c. there are clear indications that t he abusive,
296296 stalking, or harassing parent has threatened to either
297297 harm or flee with the child, or has threatened to harm
298298 the custodial parent.
299299 7. Whether or not visita tion is allowed, the court shall orde r
300300 the address of the child and the victim of domes tic violence,
301301 stalking, or harassing behavior to be kept confidential if
302302 requested.
303303 a. The court may order that the victim of domestic
304304 violence, stalking, or harassing b ehavior participate
305305 in the address confidentiality program available
306306 pursuant to Section 60.14 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma
307307 Statutes.
308308 b. The abusive, stalking, or harassing parent may be
309309 denied access to the medical and educational records
310310 of the child if those records may be used to determine
311311 the location of the child.
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363363 8. Upon request of a party, the court shal l submit clear and
364364 concise written findings specifying the factors considered in making
365365 a determination on visitation to be included in the final visitation
366366 order. An order entered pu rsuant to this section shall be an
367367 appealable order to a court of compet ent jurisdiction.
368368 B. 1. Except for good cause shown, when a noncustodial parent
369369 who is ordered to pay child support and who is awarded visitation
370370 rights fails to pay child support, t he custodial parent shall not
371371 refuse to honor the visitation rights of the noncustodial parent.
372372 2. When a custodial parent refuses to honor the visitation
373373 rights of the noncustodial parent, the noncustodial parent shall not
374374 fail to pay any ordered child s upport or alimony.
375375 C. 1. Violation of an order p roviding for the payment of child
376376 support or providing for the visitation of a noncustodial parent
377377 with any of the children of such noncustodial parent may be
378378 prosecuted as indirect civil contempt pursuant to Section 566 of
379379 Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statute s or as otherwise deemed appropriate
380380 by the court.
381381 2. Any person complying in good faith with the provisions of
382382 Section 852.1 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, by refusing to
383383 allow his or her child to be transported by an into xicated driver,
384384 shall have an affirmative defense to a contempt of court proceeding
385385 in a divorce or custody action.
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437437 3. Unless good cause is shown for the noncompliance, the
438438 prevailing party shall be entitled to recover court costs and
439439 attorney fees expend ed in enforcing the order and any other
440440 reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with the denied
441441 child support or denied visitation as authorized by the court.
442442 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 43 O.S. 2021, Section 112, is
443443 amended to read as follows:
444444 Section 112. A. A petition or cross-petition for a divorce,
445445 legal separation, or annulment must state whether or not the parties
446446 have minor children of the marriage. If there are minor children of
447447 the marriage, the court:
448448 1. Shall make provision for guard ianship, custody, medical
449449 care, support and education of the children;
450450 2. Unless not in the best interests of the children, may
451451 provide for the visitation of the noncustodial parent with any of
452452 the children of the noncustodia l parent; and
453453 3. May modify or change any order whenev er circumstances render
454454 the change proper either before or after final judgment in the
455455 action; provided, that the amount of the periodic child support
456456 payment shall not be modified retroactively or pay ment of all or a
457457 portion of the past due amount waived, except by mutual agreement of
458458 the obligor and obligee, or if the obligee has assigned child
459459 support rights to the Department of Human Services or other entity,
460460 by agreement of the Department or other entity. Unless the parties
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512512 agree to the contrary, a co mpleted child support computation form
513513 provided for in Section 120 of this title shall be required to be
514514 filed with the child support order.
515515 The social security numbers of both pare nts and the child sh all
516516 be included on the child s upport order summary form provided for in
517517 Section 120 of this title, which shall be submitted to the Central
518518 Case Registry as provided for in Section 112A of this title with all
519519 child support or paternity o rders.
520520 B. In any action in which there are minor unmarried children in
521521 awarding or modifying the custody of the child or in appointing a
522522 general guardian for the child, the court shall be guided by the
523523 provisions of Section 112.5 of this title and shall c onsider what
524524 appears to be in the best interests o f the child.
525525 C. 1. When it is in the best interests of a minor unmarried
526526 child, the court shall:
527527 a. assure children of frequent and continuing contact
528528 with both parents after the parents have separated or
529529 dissolved their marriage, and
530530 b. encourage parents to share the rights and
531531 responsibilities of child rearing in order to effect
532532 this policy.
533533 2. There shall be neither a legal preference nor a presumption
534534 for or against joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or sole
535535 custody.
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587587 3. When in the best in terests of the child, cus tody shall be
588588 awarded in a way which assures the frequent and continuing contact
589589 of the child with both parents. When awarding custody to either
590590 parent, the court:
591591 a. shall consider, among other facts , which parent is
592592 more likely to allow the child or chi ldren frequent
593593 and continuing contact with the noncustodial parent,
594594 and
595595 b. shall not prefer a parent as a custodian of the child
596596 because of the gender of that parent.
597597 4. In any action, there shall be neither a legal preference or
598598 a presumption for or agai nst private or public school or home -
599599 schooling in awarding the custody of a child, or in appointing a
600600 general guardian for the child.
601601 5. Notwithstanding any custody determination m ade pursuant to
602602 the Oklahoma Children’s Code, when a parent of a child is r equired
603603 to be separated from a child due to military service, the court
604604 shall not enter a final order modifying an existing custody order
605605 until such time as the parent has completed the term of duty
606606 requiring separation. For purpo ses of this paragraph:
607607 a. in the case of a parent who is a member of the Army,
608608 Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, the term
609609 “military service” means a combat deployment,
610610 contingency operation, or natural disaster req uiring
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662662 the use of orders that do not permit any family member
663663 to accompany the member,
664664 b. in the case of a parent who is a member of the
665665 National Guard, the term “military service” means
666666 service under a call to active service authorized by
667667 the President of the United States or the Secr etary of
668668 Defense for a period of more than thirty (30)
669669 consecutive days under 32 U.S.C. 502(f) for purposes
670670 of responding to a national emergency declared by the
671671 President and supported by federal funds. “Military
672672 service” shall include any period during which a
673673 member is absent from duty on account of sickness,
674674 wounds, leave or other lawful cause, and
675675 c. the court may enter a temporary custody or visitation
676676 order pursuant to the requirements of the Deploye d
677677 Parents Custody and Visitation Act.
678678 6. In making an order for custody, t he court shall require
679679 compliance with Section 112.3 of this title.
680680 7. Upon request of a party, the court shall submit clear and
681681 concise written findings specifying the factors con sidered in making
682682 a custody determination to be in cluded in the final cust ody order.
683683 An order entered pursuant to this section shall be an appealable
684684 order to a court of competent jurisdiction.
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736736 D. 1. Except for good cause shown, a pattern of failure to
737737 allow court-ordered visitation may be determined t o be contrary to
738738 the best interests of the child and as such may be grounds for
739739 modification of the child custody order.
740740 2. For any action brought pursuant to the provisions of this
741741 section which the court determines to be contrary to the best
742742 interests of the child, the preva iling party shall be entitled to
743743 recover court costs, attorney fees and any other reasonable costs
744744 and expenses incurred with the action.
745745 E. Except as otherwise provided by Section 11 2.1A of this
746746 title, any child shall be entitled to support by the parent s until
747747 the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age. If a child is
748748 regularly enrolled in and attending high school, as set forth in
749749 Section 11-103.6 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statu tes, other means
750750 of high school education, or an a lternative high school education
751751 program as a full-time student, the child shall be entitled to
752752 support by the parents until the child graduates from high school or
753753 until the age of twenty (20) years, which ever occurs first. Full -
754754 time attendance shall inc lude regularly schedul ed breaks from the
755755 school year. No hearing or further order is required to extend
756756 support pursuant to this subsection after the child reaches the age
757757 of eighteen (18) years.
758758 F. In any case in which provision is made for the custody or
759759 support of a minor child or enforcement of such order and before
760760
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811811 hearing the matter or signing any orders, the court shall inquire
812812 whether public assistance money or medical support has been provided
813813 by the Department of Human Services, hereafter referr ed to as the
814814 Department, for the benefit of each child. If public assistance
815815 money, medical support, or child support services under the state
816816 child support plan as provided in Section 237 of Title 56 of t he
817817 Oklahoma Statutes have been provided for the be nefit of the child,
818818 the Department shall be a necessary party for the adjudication of
819819 the debt due to the State of Oklahoma, as defined in Section 238 of
820820 Title 56 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and for the adjud ication of
821821 paternity, child support, and medical i nsurance coverage for the
822822 minor children in accordance with federal regulations. When an
823823 action is filed, the petitioner shall give the Department notice of
824824 the action according to Section 2004 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma
825825 Statutes. The Department shall n ot be required to inte rvene in the
826826 action to have standing to appear and participate in the action.
827827 When the Department is a necessary party to the action, any orders
828828 concerning paternity, child support, m edical support, or the debt
829829 due to the State of Ok lahoma shall be approv ed and signed by the
830830 Department.
831831 G. In any case in which a child support order or custody order
832832 or both is entered, enforced or modified, the court may make a
833833 determination of the arr earages of child support.
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886886 SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
887887
888888 58-2-3387 TEK 1/20/2022 7:28:56 PM