Related: McKee et al. v. City of Amarillo, No. 2:16-cv-00009 (N.D. Tex. 2016)
Rachel McKee is 47 year-old mother of three grown children. She has an eighth grade education and cleans hotels and houses. Ms. McKee was indigent at the time the complaint was filed. In 2015, Ms. McKee was arrested for failing to appear at hearings for traffic citations including speeding, driving without a valid license, and no insurance. After two days in jail, Ms. McKee appeared before the judge and pled guilty to all of the charges. Ms. McKee completed an application for a payment plan indicating that she was homeless and that her only income was $40.00 per month in back child support. Having no regard for her indigence, the court ordered her to pay $1727 in biweekly payments of $232.00. Ms. McKee had to pay $25 to activate the payment plan and make a down payment of $200.00.
Ms. McKee could not afford the payments and her request to modify the payment plan was denied. She was jailed without any inquiry as to her ability to pay and was offered no alternatives to payment. Rachel McKee’s 18 days in jail were credited at $100.00 and applied to her court fines and fees.