Committee approves presumption limiting unsupervised visitation for parents on sex-offender registry

House Bill 83, a bill to add registered sex-offender status as a factor in child custody and visitation determinations, passed the Judiciary Committee on a voice roll call after the committee approved an amendment inserting the word “rebuttable.”

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Scott Pendergraft, said the change would add to the list of statutory presumptions judges consider when determining the best interest of a child. "This is from page 2, line 13, whether either parent has a condition for which the parent must register as a *** offender under the Wyoming statutes," Pendergraft said while presenting the bill. He described a family case that prompted the measure and said the statute would help judges weigh parental rights against child safety.

The measure…