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Ark. Code Ann. § 9-15-215

Factors in determining custody and visitation

Known as the Domestic Abuse Act

The act spans §§ 9–9 (30 sections).

Applied in 1 court decision — leading case 2017 Ark. App. 188 - Smith v. Murphy (2017)

Most recently applied in 2017 Ark. App. 188 - Smith v. Murphy (March 2017)

Acts 1999, No. 1551, § 8; 2001, No. 1235, § 2.

(1) In addition to other factors that a circuit court shall consider in a proceeding in which the temporary custody of a child or temporary visitation by a parent is at issue and in which the court has made a finding of domestic or family violence, the court shall consider: As primary the safety and well-being of the child and of the parent who is the plaintiff of domestic or family violence; and

(2) The defendant's history of causing physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or causing reasonable fear of physical harm, bodily injury, or assault to another person.

(3) If a parent is absent or relocates because of an act of domestic or family violence by the other parent, the absence or relocation is not a factor that weighs against the parent in determining custody or visitation.

(4) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that it is not in the best interest of the child to be placed in the custody of an abusive parent in cases in which there is a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a pattern of abuse has occurred.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.