On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, John W. Parker filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Ohio Supreme Court against the Court of Common Pleas in Licking County, specifically targeting Judge Duke Frost and Magistrate Tracy Van Winkle. Parker’s petition stems from a prolonged legal struggle regarding parenting time with his children, following a parentage action he initiated on June 7, 2021.
In his petition, Parker asserts that he has faced significant obstacles in accessing the court system due to financial constraints. He initially filed a parentage action (case number 2021DR00517) alongside an affidavit of indigency, which was accepted by the court, waiving any prepayment of costs and fees. However, during a final hearing on September 29, 2021, Parker claims he informed the court that his financial situation had not improved and expected the court to file an entry waiving all fees, as mandated by local rule 30.11.
Despite the local rules, the court issued a final order on November 12, 2021, that included parenting time provisions for Parker but also a billing statement that contradicted the local rules. The statement included charges for services Parker asserts were never provided, such as fees for a court reporter during hearings.
In December 2021, Parker filed a motion for contempt, citing the defendant’s refusal to comply with the court-ordered parenting time. However, the court denied his affidavit of indigency, claiming that Parker had sufficient income to be considered non-indigent, which Parker contests. He argues that his financial status had not changed since the beginning of the case, raising concerns about the standards the court was using to assess his eligibility.
As his legal battles continued, Parker attempted to enforce the parenting time order multiple times. He claims the defendant relocated with their children without notifying the court and has repeatedly refused to comply with visitation orders. In February 2023, the court designated the Fairfield County Visitation Center as the location for Parker to exercise his parenting time. However, the defendant reportedly refused to cooperate with the arrangement, leading to the closure of the case by the visitation center.
Parker’s subsequent attempts to compel the defendant to comply with the visitation order met with further resistance from the court, which continued to find him an indigent litigant but denied waiving the prepayment of costs and fees. This cycle of dismissals and financial demands has left Parker unable to exercise his court-ordered parenting time, with the total fees allegedly accruing to nearly $4,000.
Frustrated with the ongoing situation, Parker claims that despite his efforts to keep up with payments and comply with court orders, his motions have been dismissed without hearing dates. He describes a pattern of behavior where the court has placed financial barriers in front of him, effectively denying him the ability to enforce his rights as a parent.
Parker highlighted specific instances where the defendant has relocated without proper notification and has engaged in behavior he describes as psychological abuse toward his children, including creating derogatory shirts for them. He presented evidence of this behavior to the court, but his requests for intervention have been met with more demands for fees and further dismissals.
In his petition, Parker cites precedents from previous cases, including State ex rel. Blevins v. Mowery, which underscore the importance of access to the courts for indigent litigants. He argues that the requirement to prepay costs and fees before proceeding with his case violates his rights and the rights of his children, as it effectively denies him access to legal recourse.
Parker’s petition requests that the Ohio Supreme Court issue a writ of mandamus, compelling the respondents to waive all costs allocated to him, stop dismissing his attempts to enforce parenting time orders based on his financial status, and allow for modifications to the original visitation order to ensure compliance.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
