South Dakota State Senators unanimously support a bill dealing with granting custody of children. In recent legislative sessions, shared parenting bills haven’t garnered enough support. But this year, Senate Bill 74 changes that.
State Senator Dan Lederman says the measure gives judges new guidelines to determine a custody arrangement in the best interest of the child. He says part of the bill also prevents a flood of past custody cases coming back in front of judges.
"If you were divorced or had a custody case when a child was a baby but now that child is going to school, and that constitutes a significant change in the custody situation of the child, then, before the court, the judge, the trial bench would actually be able to use the new law to decide on the custody arrangements," Lederman says. "So it doesn’t block out any retroactive actions, but it does limit the amount of new cases that would be considered."
Lederman says the legislation offers consistency for custody decisions statewide. All 35 members of South Dakota’s Senate vote in support of the custody bill. It now moves to the House of Representatives.