Official Arrested

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RookieDude

Question(s): Should this person be allowed to officiate basketball in his local association?

In my area this issue would only be dealt with between the IHSA and the official and many the assignors and the official. Other groups really have no say in this issue. Background checks here are for felony convictions and focus mostly on drug convictions and child abuse convictions. And while an official is dealing with legal troubles that involve criminal issues, the individual official has to inform the IHSA about those issues. Usually that means the official licenses would be temporarily suspended until the issue is taken care of. I am sure other factors might apply, but that is what is in black and white.

Originally Posted by RookieDude

Would you want this person as a partner?

If my state allowed them to work, why would I have a problem with it? I can separate personal issues with professional ones. You said that this person was a good official by all accounts. That is the main thing I would focus on for a couple of hours.

Originally Posted by RookieDude

What would you do, if he was your partner...and you heard fans yelling comments such as "meth head" etc. at him during your game?

I would do the same thing if I heard any other very personal comments coming from the stands. Get game management involved and have the people removed. It would not matter to me if they called him this or a racial or gender type comment or talked about his wife or child having a similar problem. Those comments are not appropriate. And just because the media reports something does not mean it is true.

Peace