Louisville judge issues arrest warrant for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin
Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson issued an arrest warrant for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin Friday after he failed to turn in certain financial documents in an ongoing family court case.
Bevin had until noon Friday to turn over requested financial records or face 60 days behind bars at the Louisville Metro jail and a $500 fine.
Bevin filed an emergency motion Friday that requested an extension until June 15 to turn in those documents. Johnson denied it.
Johnson wrote in her order that Bevin had already been granted “more than reasonable time” to produce the documents. She added the motion was untimely because it was “filed minutes before the deadline,” noting that Bevin was aware of the deadline a week earlier and still waited until the last moment to “inform the Court he did not intend to comply in a timely manner.”
Johnson ended her order by noting the court has the authority to demand compliance with rulings and orders.
“Matt, as the perpetrator of civil contempt, holds the keys to his own jail cell,” the judge wrote. “By consistently refusing to comply with orders that he produce documents after having multiple chances to comply, he has locked the door behind himself.”
Bevin’s attorney, in requesting the extension, noted he had turned in more than 1,000 pages of documents. The motion said Bevin’s lawyer was out of town, and the documents requested were overly broad and excessive.
Johnson, unpersuaded by that argument, signed the arrest warrant at 1:21 p.m.
It’s the latest development in the ongoing legal battle within the Bevin family.
The former governor’s son, Jonah Bevin, now 19, filed to intervene in the divorce case between Matt Bevin and Glenna Bevin to seek financial support after he said his parents abandoned him at an abusive youth facility in Jamaica when he was 16 and are no longer financially supporting him.
Jonah Bevin’s lawyer, John Helmers, said to the Herald-Leader that Johnson made “the correct decision.”
“(Matt) Bevin was given more than a year to produce the documents and multiple opportunities to comply with the court order,” Helmers said. “He hasn’t done so. His emergency motion at the 11th hour is an admission that he did not comply with the court’s orders, and there are consequences snubbing your nose at any court.”
The Herald-Leader has also reached out to Bevin’s lawyer with a request for comment.
Glenna Bevin filed for divorce in May 2023 from Matt Bevin. Jonah Bevin is one of four children the Bevins adopted from Ethiopia. They also have five biological children.
Johnson ordered Matt Bevin to attend a hearing on May 29 in person, but he appeared via zoom; Bevin said he was unable to attend in person because a boulder had fallen onto a home he owns in Maine.
Jonah Bevin’s lawyers argued that the financial documents Matt Bevin had provided were inadequate and would not allow for accurate child support to be determined. Johnson said there were “holes in some of the evidence” after reviewing the documents that were submitted.
Matt and Glenna Bevin have argued that their divorce proceedings should be kept private, though the Louisville Courier-Journal has intervened in the case and argued they should remain public. The Court of Appeals denied the request to seal the proceedings, and ruled that Jonah Bevin had a right to intervene in the case in October.
Matt Bevin has also been previously held in contempt of court for repeatedly failing to turn over financial records in the case, a standard part of cases involving child support, in March. He missed the deadline to produce records showing his income, including bank statements and tax returns. Glenna Bevin was not held in contempt as she had previously provided her financial documents.
Matt Bevin had been ordered to appear in person for that hearing, too, but attended via zoom, saying he had to travel out of state for his ex-wife’s father’s funeral.
Bevin was ordered to serve 60 days in jail, unless he paid the $500 bond and provided the information to the court. But the arrest warrant was later recalled after a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge said Johnson did not have the authority to issue the warrant until the state’s chief justice ruled on a motion for Johnson to recuse herself from the case.
Before the sentence was imposed, Matt Bevin’s lawyer had motioned for Johnson to recuse from the case, citing a pending motion filed the day before asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to remove the family court judge from the case as she lacked jurisdiction to issue a sentencing.
The lawyer had argued Johnson was using her role in the case to garner media attention and made false claims about the former governor.
The Kentucky Supreme Court then remanded the decision for Johnson’s recusal back to Johnson’s court. Johnson then wrote in an April ruling she did not have to recuse herself.
This breaking news story was updated after publication with additional information.
This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 1:59 PM.
