Background
Josie and Kenyon Hostetler divorced after Kenyon struck Josie during a June 2023 incident, leading Josie to obtain an order of protection and leave with their twin daughters. The parties had also adopted a son. Their property issues settled, leaving custody and visitation for trial.
The circuit court found credible evidence that Josie had physically abused their son over many years, including her admission that she hit him about seven times in one day when he was four. The son did not want contact with her, and therapy had made virtually no progress repairing their relationship. The court gave Kenyon primary physical custody of the son, ordered no visitation between Josie and him at that time, and awarded the parents joint custody of the daughters on an alternating-week schedule.
The Court’s Holding
The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that the no-visitation provision complied with Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-13-101 because the record supported the necessary conclusion that visitation would seriously endanger the son’s physical, mental, or emotional health. The court relied on the son’s wishes, the findings of physical abuse, and the failed efforts to restore the mother-son relationship.
The court also upheld joint custody of the daughters. Although the circuit court recognized the June 2023 domestic-abuse incident, it found insufficient evidence that Kenyon had engaged, or was likely to engage, in a pattern of domestic violence. Deferring to the circuit court’s credibility findings and assessment of the children’s best interests, the appellate court concluded that Josie had not shown clear error.
Key Takeaways
- A court may deny a parent visitation when the record supports a finding that contact would seriously endanger the child’s health.
- Specific findings are ordinarily presumed when no rule requires them and no timely request for findings was made.
- A single domestic-abuse incident did not require rejection of joint custody absent a finding of a pattern of domestic abuse.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates the substantial deference Arkansas appellate courts give trial courts in custody disputes, particularly on witness credibility and children’s best interests. It also distinguishes the statutory standard for denying visitation from the separate presumptions governing joint custody and custody by an abusive parent.