Related articles:

Law could prevent loss of custody while deployed

Other articles by Leah Duran:

Ombudsman blasts bid to curb him New option in public-records disputes

Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President

PHOENIX — When Army Reserve Capt. Brad Carlson left Phoenix in 2003 to serve in Iraq and Kuwait, he and his wife agreed that she should take their three children to her native Luxembourg during his deployment.

After Carlson filed for divorce nine months later while still overseas, a court in Luxembourg, instead of in Arizona, decided who would have custody of the children.

The reason: His children had been away long enough under Arizona law for the authority over custody rights to transfer to Luxembourg.

Carlson, 44, was at the state Capitol this week urging lawmakers to pass a law requiring that Arizona retain jurisdiction over custody when members of the armed forces are deployed, regardless of whether a child leaves the state during that time.

"I went into harm's way and my own country and state can't protect my child-custody rights," said Carlson, who now lives in Sierra Vista and works as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. "Arizona needs to protect future soldiers."

The Luxembourg court allows Carlson to visit his two sons, now ages 8 and 7, and daughter, age 5, three times a year under his ex-wife's supervision. His children, who now speak French and German instead of English, cannot come to the U.S., even though they are citizens, Carlson said.

"I don't know anything about my kids other than when I speak to them on the phone about once a month," Carlson said. "I had to accept that my kids are not going to be a part of my life."

Carlson and his attorney, Marilyn Murphy, addressed Thursday's hearing of the Senate Public Safety and Human Services Committee. They suggested amending a current bill dealing with military members and child custody so any move out of Arizona would be considered temporary until a deployment ended.

"When servicemen and women come back, at least you could have litigation on the home ground and not spend time and money going out of state," Murphy said.

The bill, HB 2635, sponsored by Rep. Pete Hershberger, R-Tucson, is currently written to allow either member of a divorced couple to file a petition to alter a child-custody decree made during or after deployment. That bill won endorsement from the Senate committee.

"The purpose of this bill is to protect servicemen and women deployed overseas who return to find custody situations changed," Hershberger said. "In order to protect their rights, the custody order would revert to the order prior to deployment."

As written, that bill would not apply in a situation such as Carlson's because he did not make a child-custody agreement prior to his departure.