CITY OF NAVASOTA AND FORMER RESIDENT IN DISPUTE OVER LIBRARY BOOKS

  

A Smithville woman found herself in trouble with the City of Navasota over some overdue library brooks.

30-year-old Kaylee Morgan said when she went to renew her driver’s license, she discovered that there was a warrant out for her arrest for Theft of Government Property.

The charge came from checking out two books on March 17, 2023 from the Navasota Public Library and not returning them.

According to a press release that was issued Tuesday afternoon by the City of Navasota, after applying for and receiving a library card on March 17, 2023,  Morgan checked out two books that were due to be returned to the library two weeks later on March 31, 2023.

When the books were not returned on time, two overdue notices were mailed to Morgan.

Morgan told KBTX-TV that the notices were mailed to an address she hadn’t live at since 2019, and she never received them.  However, the City claimed that it was the same address that she put on the application for her library card.

On May 23, 2023, the Library Director emailed Morgan using the email address provided to the library at the time of the application for a library card asking her to return the books.

The Library Director said Morgan responded to the email on the same day at 4:57 pm, by stating that she would bring them by the following day.

No books were returned.

The City stated that on May 3, 2023 Morgan was mailed a final overdue notice concerning the two late books. This notice specifically informed her that these actions constitute a Class C Misdemeanor.

The Library Director submitted a formal complaint about the two overdue books to the Navasota Municipal Court on May 31, 2023.

After the Court issued her two separate summons to appear, Morgan still did not show up, and warrant was issued for her arrest on September 1, 2023.

The same day the warrant was issued, the Municipal Court mailed a courtesy notice to Morgan notifying her of the warrant.

According to the City, on September 25, 2023, the two books were finally returned.

Though the books were returned six months after the due date,  the City stated that Morgan still needed to resolve the pending case that had been filed in the Municipal Court on May 31, 2023.

On March 28, 2024, Morgan appeared before the Navasota Municipal Judge and entered a plea of no contest, waived her right to a jury trial, and was found guilty by the Court for Violation of City Ordinance – Library.

Based on Ms. Morgan’s appearance and plea of no contest entered with the Court, the Navasota Municipal Judge lifted the warrant on April 2.

On April 5, in conjunction with an Order waiving the $569.70 fine and costs, the Navasota Municipal Judge assessed a fine and costs/fees in the total amount of $0.00.

Morgan had set up a Go Fund Me account to help pay for the cost of a lawyer to represent her. The account raised $3,665.

She said anything left over after the lawyer’s fee would be donated to the Smithville Public Library and the Navasota Public Library to help pay overdue fees for others.