By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Lantern
September 4, 2026
LOUISVILLE — Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin will spend 60 days in jail after he was arrested Thursday on an outstanding warrant for contempt of court.
Bevin appeared in Jefferson County Family Court Friday afternoon. He had been arrested on Thursday while working as an extra on a Christmas movie filmed at a Bourbon County horse farm.
Judge Angela Johnson had issued the warrant for Bevin in June after he failed to disclose financial documents or show up to hearings in a dispute over child support for one of his adopted children, Jonah Bevin. She said the former governor had repeatedly “demonstrated a complete disregard and utter disrespect for this court.”
“You are not entitled to a reduction. You’ve not earned it. You didn’t even try to turn in the remaining documents before the hearing date. You didn’t turn yourself in,” Johnson said to Bevin. “You have done nothing to show the court that you are willing to act in good faith, and I cannot reward that with a reduced sentence or an alternative sentence or some form of relief for you, because you have shown this court that you are not going to do what you’re ordered to do because you don’t think that it should be this way.”
The judge told Bevin he is welcome to appeal the decision to a higher court. She added that she may reconsider her decision after 30 days in jail “after demonstration of improvement, after — whatever, some sort of relief.”
“But you are going to serve 60 days as of today,” Johnson added.
Before Johnson spoke, attorneys for the former governor and his son spoke. Scott Cox, who joined the former governor’s legal team ahead of the hearing, argued there would be no reason to have criminal contempt hearings as the case over child support is close to being resolved.
“You could order him to serve time, including all of that time on home detention, without having a trial or anything else on this criminal contempt,” Cox said.
John H. Helmers Jr., representing Jonah Bevin, said Matt Bevin had repeatedly attempted to skirt court orders throughout the case, which has been going on for about 15 months and has “been a fugitive of this court” for weeks. Helmers took issue with the idea of home incarceration, as the former governor has a “multi-million-dollar mansion.” Cox objected to that phrasing.
“We’re asking the court to enforce its own orders to let Mr. Bevin and other citizens know that family court orders are real orders, and everyone can expect to play by the same rules,” Helmers said.
Cox then said Matt Bevin going to Jefferson County jail “is a nightmare for someone like him, because he’s a target of abuse to half the people who are in there.”
Matt Bevin’s attorneys did not respond to questions from reporters after the hearing. Melina Hettiaratchi, another attorney for Jonah, told the media she had been in contact with him a few times after the news broke Thursday.
“There is some validation to see somebody had to follow the rules, and you have to serve the sentence that’s been given to you, but at the same time … to have a parent choose to go to jail over support for you is horrific,” Hettiaratchi said.
Bevin’s attorneys did not respond to questions after the hearing.
Johnson previously issued a contempt of court order for Matt Bevin in March after disregarding a court order to produce his financial information. In May, he skipped one hearing Johnson had asked him to attend in-person, claiming he was tending to damage at his vacation home in Maine from a boulder that crashed into it.
Jonah Bevin is seeking support and help with his education, including a valid high school diploma, in the divorce case between the former governor and former First Lady Glenna Bevin, who are his adopted parents. Jonah has argued that he was neglected, deprived of an education and sent to an abusive child residential center in Jamaica at 17.
Jonah previously told the Kentucky Lantern about his experience at the facility. The facility was effectively closed by Jamaican child welfare authorities, citing signs of abuse and neglect, in 2024.
Matt Bevin, a Republican, was governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. He lost reelection to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Linda Blackford for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
