Ethan Couch transferred from Tarrant County maximum security jail

Ethan Couch, the so-called affluenza teen who was ordered to jail for almost two years last week, was transferred from Tarrant County’s maximum-security jail to a “less restrictive” facility Tuesday morning, Sheriff Dee Anderson said.

“He won’t have to stay in his cell quite as much as he did previously,” Anderson said. “He will have a little bit of more person-to-person contact. He will still be a in a single cell.”

Couch’s safety is “still our big concern with him,” Anderson said.

Couch has been in isolation at the county’s Lon Evans Correction Center in downtown Fort Worth since Feb. 5, when a judge transferred him from the county’s juvenile jail. He was returned to North Texas from Mexico in January after he skipped a probation appointment and fled the country with his mother.

Couch killed four people in a DWI crash in 2013 and was sentenced to 10 years of probation. During his trial, a psychologist testified Couch suffered from affluenza — that his parents’ coddling warped his sense of right and wrong.

His case was transferred to the adult court system in April, when he turned 19.

After Couch’s birthday, state District Judge Wayne Salvant added four consecutive 180-day jail terms — for a total of 720 days — as a condition of his probation. Salvant, who said he might reconsider the condition, affirmed his decision last week.

Once that happened, Anderson said, he and his staff met to discuss better long-term housing options for the teen.

At Lon Evans, Couch was allowed out of his cell only one hour a day. He had no contact with anyone and wasn’t allowed to talk to jailers. Anderson said moving Couch across the street to the county’s regular jail was “appropriate.”

“He has not been any kind of behavior problem,” Anderson said. “He’s been nothing but compliant with us ... he understands why we’ve been doing what we’re doing. He realizes he could be in danger.”

At the regular county jail, Couch will still be in a single cell but will have daily access to a day room, which includes chairs, tables and televisions, Anderson said. The day room also connects to a gym, where inmates can work out.

“I’m sure he would probably welcome it,” Anderson said. “It’s a little less restrictive than the world he was living in.”

Couch’s attorneys, Scott Brown and Reagan Wynn, could not immediately be reached for comment.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Ethan Couch transferred from Tarrant County maximum security jail."