Mom faces hefty fine, jail time over late library book. ‘It’s a freaking book, y’all’
A Texas woman has a warrant out for her arrest over a late library book on Vincent Van Gogh she took out in 2023.
Kaylee Morgan, a 30-year-old stay-at-home mother of five, said the first time she learned there was an issue was when she tried to renew her driver’s license in March.
“The DMV tells me they cannot renew my license because I have a warrant out for my arrest,” Morgan said in a March 28 Facebook post.
“I haven’t gotten pulled over, I haven’t gotten any ticket,” she said. “It just didn’t compute.”
After speaking with a judge, Morgan said she learned the warrant was for an unpaid $570 fine on past due library books she took out from Navasota Public Library in Grimes County in March 2023.
According to a Navasota city ordinance, refusal or failure to return books within 30 days from the due date, after receiving two written notices, will result in a library card suspension.
The ordinance also states a maximum penalty of $500 may be applied if someone fails to return a book within 10 days of receiving a complaint letter and pay the appropriate fine or replacement costs.
Morgan said she tried to explain that all the books were returned, with one being at most a few weeks late because it didn’t fit into the return box.
“I definitely returned it,” Morgan said, adding that the library’s system was down on the day she went in to physically return the book on Vincent Van Gogh.
“She told me that she didn’t want to hear my excuses,” Morgan said, recounting her conversation with the judge. “She said make no mistake, that if you’re driving in Grimes County with or without your kids and you get pulled over, we will arrest you.”
Morgan wrote on a GoFundMe she started that she is facing a Class C misdemeanor for “theft of government property.”
“It’s a freaking book y’all,” Morgan said in a March 29 Facebook post. “It’s not the Declaration of Independence.”
McClatchy News reached out to the city of Navasota and the Navasota Public Library for comment April 2 but did not receive an immediate response.
Morgan raised enough money to cover the cost of the citation and has since increased her fundraising goal to help pay for a lawyer who will handle her case.
She said any money left over will be donated to the Smithville Public Library.
This story was originally published April 3, 2024 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Mom faces hefty fine, jail time over late library book. ‘It’s a freaking book, y’all’."
