Creech, John Introduce Bill Pushing for Equal Shared Parenting

State Reps. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) and Marilyn John (R-Richland County) introduced House Bill 14 regarding establishing equal shared parenting throughout the state. Creech and John spoke to the bill during a press conference on Tuesday.

“Equal parenting should always be the starting point because a strong parent/child relationship is in the best interest of children,” said John. “House Bill 14 encourages parents to work together instead of incentivizing them to fight against each other.”

The legislation establishes that parents share time and responsibility equally, unless there is evidence that an equal arrangement would be detrimental to the child. If such evidence is presented, the courts can use their discretion to formulate a more appropriate arrangement.

“Ohio’s laws haven’t changed in decades and our bill takes into account the large and growing body of research that shows the benefits of equal parenting,” said Creech. “What our bill does is create an official state policy that ensures children have a continued and meaningful relationship with both parents and, to the greatest extent possible, that parents share equally in time and responsibility.”

House Bill 14 ensures equal shared parenting in instances of legal separation, divorce, dissolution, or annulment of parents’ marriages. The legislation also creates rebuttable presumptions if parents do not jointly submit a shared parenting agreement, and equal parenting times will be established unless a court finds that arrangement would be harmful to the child.

Creech also joint sponsored this bipartisan bill as it had 59 cosponsors during the previous General Assembly, and it has currently been referred to the House Families and Aging Committee.

The full press conference can be viewed here.