Petitions Filed Seeking Equal Child Custody In Walsh County

A Park River man's submitted a petition seeking equal custody of 
children in a divorce in Walsh County.
Mitch Sanderson filed the petition Tuesday afternoon to the Walsh
County Auditor's office in Grafton.  Sanderson says he's trying to add a
law in Walsh County establishing equal parenting rights if the couple is
divorced or separated and neither parent is found unfit to be a parent.
Sanderson says that standard is already in place and what the courts should
be using.
Sanderson says well over 800 Walsh County residents signed his
petition.  Sanderson he got the signatures from residents all over the county.
Sanderson says the signers were supportive and said this should've 
been done a long time ago.
742 valid signatures are needed to get the measure on the November
election ballot.
Walsh County Auditor Sharon Kinsala(KIHN-suh-lah) says she'll verify
the signatures by September seventh.

                                                       -30-