TCU quarterback Casey Pachall will be on court-ordered probation for the 2013 football season and will need permission from a probation officer to leave Tarrant County, according to court documents obtained by TCU 360.
Pachall was suspended from the team in October after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. In March, Pachall pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. Pachall was reinstated to the team in January.
TCU will play five games out of Tarrant County, including match-ups against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Additionally, unless TCU qualifies for the Cotton Bowl in Cowboys Stadium, the Horned Frogs will play their bowl game outside of Tarrant County.
Pachall will not need the permission of an officer to play LSU in Cowboys Stadium for TCU’s season opener, since the stadium is located inside the county.
TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte declined to comment about the possible impact of Pachall’s probation on TCU’s 2013 season, but he did address Pachall’s progression with the university.
"Casey Pachall has worked hard to follow all the guidelines set forth by the University for his return to TCU. We're excited to have him back as part of our campus community," Del Conte wrote Friday in an emailed statement.
Jim Short, an adult supervision officer with Tarrant County, said that under Texas confidentiality laws, Pachall’s probation officer and Tarrant County cannot speak about specific terms of the probation term unless all parties consent to a release of information.
Short said in general terms, a probationer cannot leave the county without written permission, unless there is a waiver that permits the probationer to leave to contiguous counties.
Pachall’s probation officer was not listed in the court documents and a spokeswoman of the Tarrant County Probation Department said that unless listed in the court documents, the information was confidential.
Pachall was fined $1,240 and sentenced to 24 hours of community service. He also was ordered to attend drug and alcohol programs and install an ignition interlock on his vehicle, according to court documents.
An ignition interlock requires a driver to breathe into a device to determine if the driver is legally impaired. If the driver is impaired, the vehicle will not start. According to the order, Pachall cannot drive a vehicle without an ignition interlock installed in it.
If Pachall violates any term in his probation, he will face up to 90 days in jail, Tarrant County public information officer Melody McDonald said.
Although Pachall must have the ignition interlock and must be free of alcohol when meeting with a supervisor, he is not banned from consuming alcohol in general, according to the conditions of probation.
Below are some of the public court documents which were acquired by TCU 360: