This story has been updated with new information and to correct a typo.
Former Gov. Matt Bevin faces a 60-day jail sentence or a $500 fine after a Jefferson County family court judge decided on penalties for him March 24 after he was previously found in contempt of court for violating an order in his ongoing divorce case.
Bevin did not appear in-person for the March 24 hearing because he had attended a relative’s funeral in Oklahoma the day before, he said, and was not yet in Kentucky when he stopped to appear on Zoom. Bevin also appeared on Zoom during a contempt hearing March 20. After the previous hearing, Judge Angela Johnson ordered Bevin to file financial documents, including state and federal tax returns and bank statements, by 10 a.m. March 24 in order to have potential penalties against him waived.
An arrest warrant filed March 24 shows Bevin was served a $500 cash bond and must also provide financial records to be released from custody. It is unclear when Bevin could be back in Kentucky following the out-of-state funeral.
The sentencing decision comes after Johnson ruled Bevin had not acted “in good faith” when he was ordered to provide “complete and unredacted” financial information pertaining to his adopted son Jonah Bevin’s request for retroactive child support. Jonah Bevin intervened in his parents’ divorce case in an attempt to receive payment for time he spent in his teen years at academies for “troubled teens,” one of which in Jamaica was raided by police over abuse allegations.
Matt Bevin said in court he “had already provided all disclosures and documents about his personal income” and that anything else “would not have been germane” to the court.
Johnson said she had asked Matt Bevin to provide complete financial records “more than once” dating back to 2025.
“I can not treat you any different from anyone else,” she said.
Jesse Mudd, Matt Bevin’s counsel who one day earlier had filed a motion to recuse Johnson from the case, objected to Johnson’s sentencing decision and said in court he would seek an opinion on the matter from the Kentucky Supreme Court. Mudd declined to comment to reporters following the hearing.
Prior to issuing her sentencing decision, Johnson denied Mudd’s motion to recuse, saying it had not been filed appropriately. She also said she sought counsel from the Kentucky Supreme Court regarding the motion to recuse and decided it was best to move forward with the March 24 hearing.
A March 27 hearing over the child support matter will remain as scheduled, unless the Kentucky Supreme Court deems it should be postponed, Johnson said.
Following the March 24 proceedings, Melina Hettiaratchi, an attorney for Jonah Bevin, told reporters she thought Johnson exercised restraint in her ruling and could have issued a higher fine and a longer sentence since Bevin was not physically present.
“Instead, she gave him his day in court,” she said.
Attorneys for Jonah Bevin argued March 20 the former governor had failed to provide additional documents, including his most recent state and federal tax returns, along with bank account statements and other financial disclosures, that will be relevant for the March 27 trial to determine what relief the young man could be entitled to.
The financial disclosure statements Matt Bevin initially turned over were significantly redacted, The Courier Journal previously reported. He then filed the documents again with only his home address blacked out.
At issue in the fight for child support is the diploma Jonah Bevin received from a Florida boarding school, which his attorneys have said may not be legitimate.
Glenna Bevin, the former governor’s ex-wife, is a party in the case, but her adoptive son’s attorneys did not seek to hold her in contempt. Attorney John Helmers previously said she had not done anything to “directly impact our ability to move forward with the case.”
Glenna Bevin filed for divorce in 2023, saying her marriage with Matt Bevin was “irretrievably broken.” The divorce was finalized in 2025, but Jonah Bevin moved to intervene in the case last spring.
Lucas Aulbach contributed. Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at [email protected] or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
