A Texas mother of five recently found herself in a predicament when she learned she could go to jail for not returning library books her county claimed were not returned.
In March 2023, Kaylee Morgan removed a book about Vincent van Gogh from the Navasota Public Library in Grimes County, Texas.
She told Fox News Digital that she did indeed return all the books she borrowed, but one book was too large to fit in the return box.
The two books had a combined value of $60, but Morgan was hit with a bill of $569.50, mostly for fines and court costs, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
She was also charged with violating city ordinances.
“A warrant is in effect for your arrest,” the disturbing document read. “Act now to avoid going to jail.”
But Mr. Morgan didn’t know until recently that the months-old document existed.
The mother said the problems started last week when she performed the innocent task of renewing her driver’s license.
“So I went to the house and was told the DMV couldn’t renew my license because there was a warrant out for my arrest and I heard laughter,” she explained in a video posted to Facebook. “And I’m shocked because I couldn’t get pulled over and I didn’t have a ticket. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m home most of the time. I homeschool my kids, so I couldn’t understand what she was saying.”
Morgan then called the district court to find out what the problem was and was told there were two library books that were past their due date.
Stressed out, the mother made an appointment to see a judge.
“That’s really ridiculous. It’s rubbish. There’s a warrant out for my arrest for past-due library books. Okay…this isn’t fake. This isn’t a hoax,” she said, perplexed.
During her meeting with the county judge, Morgan explained that she is homeschooling her five children and had difficulty conceiving around the time her book was due.
“[In the meeting] I explain that I returned the book,” she said. “Some items were too large to fit in the return box. The system was down when I returned them, but I definitely returned them.”
“And Max, that was two weeks late,” Morgan added. “Maybe more than that, but I was pregnant and had some complications and was on bed rest.”
The judge’s reaction was less than sympathetic, Morgan said.
“She said she didn’t want to hear my excuses and that I needed to take responsibility,” Morgan recalled. “She said what I did by not returning library books was the same as if she stole from Walmart.”
“So my record says I stole government property. Bonkers, right? Just crazy.”
The judge added that the warrant is still active and Morgan will not be allowed to renew his driver’s license until he pays the $600 ticket. This is expensive for a family of five on a single income.
“She said she was driving in Grimes County with or without children and that if she was pulled over, she would arrest me. So she decided to arrest me in front of the children. It’s going to be…I don’t know what I’m going to do about this.”
Morgan said technically the warrant was never served because he had no knowledge of its existence.
“[The judge] They issued a warrant and said someone signed it, but I said it wasn’t me, she said. “I didn’t sign it. I didn’t know if I signed her warrant because I don’t drive. I don’t want to go to jail. So I asked her who signed it and she said it didn’t matter.”
The mother raised more than $1,300 through GoFundMe to help pay the fine.
Now she plans to hire a lawyer to clear all confusion from her record.
Morgan told Fox News Digital that she has received a lot of support over the situation, but has not heard back from authorities since going public with the situation.
“The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive,” she said. “Some people don’t understand that I submitted a book, and some people think I’m running a smear campaign.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Navasota County judge, the Grimes County judge and the Navasota city manager, but did not receive a response.
