Appeals court recalls arrest warrant against former Gov. Bevin
UPDATE FRIDAY:
The arrest warrant for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has been recalled by the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
Judge Angela Johnson sentenced Bevin to 60 days in jail or a $500 fine on Tuesday. The case centers on Bevin’s refusal to turn over financial records in an ongoing legal dispute with his adopted son Jonah.
On Friday, Court of Appeals Judge Audra J. Eckerle recalled Bevin’s arrest warrant due to Bevin’s request to disqualify the judge from the case.
Bevin’s sentencing order is stayed until a separate panel of the Court of Appeals can review the case.
Bevin has made multiple attempts to have Johnson removed from the case, claiming that she cannot give him an impartial or fair trial.
Jonah Bevin and three siblings were adopted from Ethiopia in 2012. He was later sent to facilities in Florida and later in Jamaica, where Jonah said he was abused.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Tuesday by a Louisville family court judge who previously found him in contempt of court for failing to disclose financial information in a year-long legal dispute involving his son, according to a report in the Kentucky Lantern.
To avoid jail, Bevin must post a $500 cash bond and turn over the financial information ordered by Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson.
An emergency motion was filed last week by Bevin’s estranged son, Jonah Bevin, asking the court to hold the former governor in contempt. The motion alleged Bevin failed to provide financial information he was ordered by the court to submit as part of the ongoing legal battle.
Both Matt and Glenna Bevin were ordered to submit detailed financial disclosures. Glenna Bevin complied, but Matt Bevin submitted incomplete and redacted documents, according to the motion.
"Counsel for Jonah received an incomplete submission on March 13, 2026, a full day after the deadline passed," court documents showed. "His tardy submission, tendered only to counsel for Jonah, contained multiple redactions for the addresses of properties other than Matt’s current residential address and lacked many of the required attachments demonstrating his income."
An active bench warrant for his arrest was issued Tuesday, court records state. He must also produce financial documents that would show receipt of income.
"Every litigant in the commonwealth has to provide such information," Johnson told Bevin in court Tuesday, the Kentucky Lantern reported. "I cannot treat Mr. Bevin or Mrs. Bevin any differently."
Bevin was given a deadline of 10 a.m. Tuesday to provide the documents requested by the judge, according to court documents.
Bevin appeared in court via Zoom on Tuesday and said he was in Oklahoma attending the funeral of his ex-wife’s father, according to court records.
Jonah Bevin, who is adopted, has accused his parents of sending him to an abusive boarding school when he was a teenager. He has also made allegations of emotional and physical abuse and obtained an emergency protective order against Matt Bevin.
Last year, a judge granted Jonah Bevin, 19, a Motion to Intervene in his parents’ divorce case after he filed an Emergency Protective Order against Matt and Glenna Bevin, claiming he was mistreated and abandoned in Jamaica as a minor.
The Bevins, who are divorced, had nine children together, including four adopted children.
Governor Matt Bevin speaks with reporters as he conceded the gubernatorial race to democrat Andy Beshear in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
