How former KY Gov. Matt Bevin’s divorce case escalated to potential jail time
Editor’s note: Friday after publication of this story, a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge ordered Jefferson County Family Court Judge Angela Johnson to recall her arrest warrant for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, ruling the family court judge lacked the authority to issue it.
The child support case between Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and his estranged son came to a head this week, as the former governor was found to be in contempt of court for not turning over personal financial documents, and could face jail time as a result.
It’s the latest development in a yearlong legal battle between Matt Bevin and his son, Jonah Bevin, who is seeking financial support from his parents after he says he was abandoned by them when he was a teenager. Now, Matt Bevin could face 60 days in jail unless he pays a $500 bond and turns over financial documents in the case, Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson ruled.
Jonah Bevin, 19, has said his adoptive parents, Matt and Glenna Bevin — whose divorce was finalized last year — abandoned him at an abusive youth facility in Jamaica when he was 16 and are no longer financially supporting him.
Jonah Bevin has filed for financial support to further his education. While he attended and graduated from Veritas Mission Academy in Florida in 2024 after returning to the U.S., a school that bills itself as providing “classical education from a Christian worldview,” Jonah and his lawyers have said the diploma is worthless, as the school wasn’t accredited.
Jonah Bevin is one of four children the Bevins adopted from Ethiopia. They also have five biological children.
Glenna Bevin filed for divorce in May 2023 from the former governor.
At the time, Jonah Bevin was 16 and had been sent to the Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica. He was later held in the care of Jamaican child welfare services after they discovered facility staff were physically and emotionally abusive.
Matt and Glenna Bevin’s divorce was finalized in March 2025, and a month later, Jonah Bevin filed to intervene in their ongoing divorce case, asking for retroactive child support and financial assistance.
Jonah Bevin also filed for a protective order against his father, saying Matt Bevin had a pattern of “manipulative” and “intimidating” behavior. That order was granted, and Matt Bevin was ordered to have no contact with his son while the case is ongoing.
Matt and Glenna Bevin have argued that their divorce proceedings should be kept private, though the Courier-Journal has intervened in the case and argued they should remain public. In October, the Court of Appeals denied the request to seal the proceedings, and ruled that Jonah Bevin had a right to intervene in the case.
Bevin held in contempt of court
Things escalated last week, when Matt Bevin was held in contempt of court for repeatedly failing to provide the court with his personal financial information.
Johnson gave Bevin until Tuesday morning to produce the records showing his income, which included bank statements and tax returns. Glenna Bevin had previously provided her financial documents.
Bevin missed that deadline, and at a hearing Tuesday, he interrupted the judge several times and said he was attempting to provide the information but needed more time to collect the records. He said he did not have traditional documentation of income, and instead had been living off revenue from the sales of property and savings.
Bevin’s lawyer declined to comment after Tuesday’s hearing and did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Additionally, Bevin had been ordered to appear in person for the hearing, but he attended by Zoom. Bevin told Johnson he had to travel out of state for his ex-wife’s father’s funeral, and was driving with several of their children.
Johnson told Bevin he had been asked repeatedly over several months to provide the information, which is common in family court cases involving child support, and as a result, was in contempt of the court.
Bevin could serve 60 days in the Jefferson County Jail, unless he pays the $500 bond and provides the required information to the court. Johnson said Tuesday Bevin’s arrest warrant would be issued that day.
As of Thursday morning, Bevin was not listed as an inmate at the jail.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decisions on the pretrial issues, including the issuance of the arrest warrant,” Jonah Bevin’s lawyer, John Helmers, told the Herald-Leader. “The Family Court determined that Matt Bevin will not receive special treatment. Jonah is looking forward to his day in court.”
Bevin also filed a motion to remove Johnson as the judge from the case, citing alleged bias. It was filed late Monday, arguing Johnson was using her role in the case to garner media attention, and she had made false claims about him.
“She is using me as a political pinata,” Bevin said in an affidavit.
At the Tuesday hearing, Johnson declined to take up that motion, saying she had checked with the Supreme Court and learned that the motion had not been properly filed.
A hearing in the case was scheduled for Friday morning, but it was rescheduled while the Supreme Court waits for records in Bevin’s motion to have Johnson removed from the case.
“We are disappointed that Matt Bevin would seek to delay the child support hearing. The is an obvious tactic to avoid personal accountability,” Helmers said. “The family court had no choice but to follow the law and wait for Kentucky’s Chief Justice to rule on the motion. In the meantime, Matt Bevin remains noncompliant with the Court’s Orders. And the warrant for his arrest remains outstanding.”
In a statement through Helmers on Thursday, Jonah Bevin said: “Matt Bevin says he cares about me. But a true father wouldn’t be fighting this hard not to help his own kid. If he really cared, he would have brought me home when I was rescued from Jamaica. Instead I’m out here just trying to survive while he keeps playing games.”
Jonah Bevin said he was facing financial hardship, and is daily “worried about where I’m going to sleep and how I’m going to eat.”
“I’m trying my best, but it feels like I’m on my own,” he said. “That hurts more than anything. It makes me feel like I never really mattered. I didn’t ask for any of this. I just want a safe place to live and a real chance to move forward. If he truly cares like he says, then he needs to show it.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 5:00 AM.