The Iowa Legislature is currently looking at a new way for child custody laws to be determined.
Currently Iowa law states that during a child custody dispute, if a court rules that custody of children are joint-equal between the parents, often times actual physical custody will be given to one party. State Senator Julian Garrett tells KNIA News the legislature have been approached by a group called Iowa Fathers, who are looking to match the court rulings of joint custody with physical custody of children.

“There are a number of dads who feel like they have been deprived of their rights to have a role in their children’s lives. Not all dads feel that way obviously, but a lot of them do. What they are pushing us to do is to say that if the court rules that parties should have joint legal custody, then there is a presumption that can be overcome, that there should also be joint physical custody of the children.”

Garrett said he chaired a subcommittee that passed the bill, which now stands in the Judicial Committee to be voted on.