House Judiciary subcommittee rewrites custody-enforcement bill to restore parenting time, tie penalties to contempt and create task force

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday reviewed a subcommittee amendment to Senate Bill 2186 that would change how courts respond when a parent denies another parent scheduled parenting time, proposing a remedy that awards the wronged parent up to double the time lost, ties criminal penalties to contempt of court and creates a task force to study implementation.

The amendment, presented by subcommittee chair Representative Vetter, removes portions of the prior draft that had placed some enforcement responsibility on law enforcement and instead focuses on restoring parenting time, a higher evidentiary standard and judicial remedies. "What this bill would do is if you take time away from one party ... the other party would then get up to double time back," Vetter told the committee. He said legislative counsel had inserted language requiring "clear and convincing" evidence for additional parenting time.

The change matters…