‘Affluenza’ mom Tonya Couch released from jail

Tonya Couch clutched a brown paper bag and looked at the ground Tuesday as she made the short walk from the Tarrant County Jail to a county probation office, where she was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor and released on bond.

Couch — who is accused of hindering the apprehension of her son, Ethan Couch — was released from jail at about 8:50 a.m. Tuesday after posting bond through a bail bondsman late Monday night.

Earlier Monday, a state district judge lowered her bail from $1 million to $75,000. The charge of hindering apprehension of a felon is a third-degree felony.

On Tuesday, two Tarrant County sheriff’s deputies escorted Couch from the north door of the jail to the Tarrant County Community Supervision and Corrections Department two blocks away.

About an hour and a half later, she tried to dodge cameras before she ducked into a Ford sedan. The court-ordered GPS monitor was fastened to her left ankle.

The monitor is one of many restrictions state District Judge Wayne Salvant placed on Couch during her bond reduction hearing Monday.

Among the conditions: She is required to live with her oldest son, Steven McWilliams, in southern Tarrant County; check in weekly with a Tarrant County probation officer; wear the monitor; abstain from drugs and alcohol; submit to drug and alcohol tests; avoid nightclubs; and not own, carry or transport a weapon.

Tonya Couch also has to pay a $60 a month “supervisory fee,” and reimburse the county $3,177.93 for costs related to bringing her from Los Angeles to Fort Worth last week, according to a court document.

Ethan Couch’s probation

Tonya Couch’s son, Ethan Couch, is serving 10 years of probation for a 2013 drunken driving crash that killed four people and injured several others.

After leaving the country, the two were tracked down in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and detained on Dec. 28. Tonya Couch was quickly deported and had been in the Tarrant County Jail since Thursday.

Ethan Couch, 18, remained in a Mexico City detention facility on Tuesday, as he continued to fight extradition to the United States.

He is scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday in Fort Worth to determine whether his case will be transferred to the adult probation system.

Couch has to be present for the hearing to occur. But even if he returns to Texas after his 19th birthday — when his juvenile probation would normally expire — a judge would still be able to decide whether to transfer his case to the adult system.

Also Tuesday, Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced it has obtained the 30,000 signatures the group was seeking on a petition demanding that Couch’s case be moved to adult court.

“There is still a week left until Couch’s transfer hearing, and we’re confident we can reach 60,000 signatures,” MADD national president Colleen Sheehey-Church said in a statement. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Couch is not a child and it’s time for adult consequences.”

Staff writer Monica S. Nagy contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 1:18 PM with the headline "‘Affluenza’ mom Tonya Couch released from jail."