HOUSTON – As if pushing through postpartum, completing house chores and taking care of children aren’t enough -- one stay-at-home mother says a warrant was issued for her arrest for an overdue library book.
“I really didn’t believe it. Like I really thought I’m on ‘Punked’ or something, like this is not true,” Kaylee Morgan said.
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Kaylee Morgan, a wife and a stay-at-home mother of five, rented a few books from the Navasota Public Library in March of last year. Navasota’s a town about an hour-and-a-half northwest of Houston, known for its bluebonnet fields and home to Frank Hamer, the lawman who led the posse that killed Bonnie and Clyde.
The books Morgan checked out were for her homeschooled children.
At the time, Morgan was going through a rough pregnancy, dealing with hyperemesis and placenta previa. She didn’t return the books by the due date. She said her husband did end up returning all but one book because it didn’t fit inside the library’s drop box.
What happened next stunned Morgan.
When she went to renew her driver’s license, she found out there was a warrant for a $570 ticket -- yes, $570 ... for overdue books. Morgan says the judge she tried to explain her situation to, did not want to hear her “excuses” and said she needed to “take responsibility.”
“This has definitely been stressful. I exclusively breastfeed my daughter so now I’m having to navigate pumping in case I get arrested,” she said.
Morgan said when she offered to pay for the missing books, even though they’d been returned, the judge told her they were beyond that point in the process.
“She told me that by returning the books late, I had done the equivalent of walking out of Walmart without paying for merchandise,” Morgan wrote on her GoFundMe account. “They now refuse to reinstate my license until I pay the ticket and there is an active warrant out for my arrest in Grimes County.”
Morgan says she’s been charged with theft of government property, a Class C misdemeanor that will show up on her record.
She wants to fight the case but as a single-income family, Morgan says with five children, including their 3-month-old baby, they barely make ends meet. She’s raised money online and says anything left over, she’ll donate to another local library where she now lives.
According to a city ordinance, refusal or failure to return books or items within 30 days from the due date will result in the person’s library card being revoked. The ordinance also states that any person who damages or destroys books may face a misdemeanor fine punishable by up to $500. Morgan believes the ordinance is excessive.
“There are so many other things we can do as a consequence. I do agree having a timeframe for library books is important so everyone can participate but maybe community service, like you returned a book late so come read to the kiddos,” she said.