by Don Hubin

Are Lawrence County parents less important to their children’s well-being than those in counties like Ashtabula, Carroll, Clermont, Holmes and Tuscarawas?

That seems to be the message Judge Andrew P. Ballard is sending to divorcing parents.

Imagine two children, Amy and Brittany. Both girls, and their families, live in Ohio: Amy in Ironton and Brittany in New Philadelphia. Unfortunately, both girls’ parents are divorcing. This will be a rough time for the girls, but, fortunately, all four of the parents are good, loving parents — divorcing each other, not their daughters — and each wants to remain fully engaged in their daughter’s lives.

Because Brittany lives in Tuscarawas County, when her parents go to court to settle how they will continue to raise the child they both love, they will be presented with a local parenting time rule of the Tuscarawas County Court of Common Pleas that treats them both equally and presumes that they will continue to be equally involved in the day-to-day responsibilities of raising Brittany.

Amy, though, lives in Lawrence County. When her parents go to court to address these matters, they will be presented with a local rule of the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas that is a relic of the 1950s. The rule in force in Lawrence County presumes that one parent, and only one parent, will be the residential parent; the other parent will be sidelined. Under the Lawrence County rule, Amy will be in the care of one of her parents only every other weekend and one evening each week for four hours.

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