Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for former Kentucky GOP Governor Matt Bevin after finding him in contempt of court, meaning he willfully violated the court's authority, for repeatedly ignoring orders to turn over financial documents.
The ruling landed just days before Bevin is expected to appear Friday in a Louisville trial over whether he owes child support to his 19-year-old son, Jonah Bevin. The former governor, who served from 2015 to 2019, now faces 60 days in county jail unless he posts a $500 cash bond and produces the financial records the court has demanded.
According to Just the News, Judge Johnson did not mince words from the bench on Tuesday. She had previously given Bevin until Monday to submit the required documents or face possible jail time, the Kentucky Lantern reported. When that deadline passed without compliance, the court acted.
I have no choice but to hold you in contempt of court for violating the court's order.
Judge Johnson continued, making clear this was not a close call.
You didn't do what you were supposed to do when you were supposed to do it.
The documents at issue include financial records, bank statements, tax returns, and all other records that would show the receipt of income. Those are standard discovery items in any child support proceeding, and a court order to produce them is not optional.
Bevin did not appear in person at Tuesday's hearing. He claimed he had to travel out of state to attend the funeral of his ex-wife's father and was on his way back to Kentucky.
That absence came one day after Bevin attempted to have Judge Johnson removed from the case on Monday. He cited alleged bias and claimed the judge's actions were motivated by her desire for media attention due to his prominence as a former governor. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether any formal ruling was issued on that recusal request, meaning a motion asking a judge to step aside from a case.
The child support case at the center of all this involves Jonah Bevin, 19, who has alleged that his parents left him when he was a minor and owe him child support as well as assistance in completing his education. Those allegations have not been adjudicated. The upcoming trial in Louisville is expected to address whether Matt Bevin in fact owes that support.
Investigators and the court will need to determine the full scope of Bevin's financial picture, which is precisely what the ordered documents were supposed to reveal.
Bevin is expected to appear in Kentucky on Friday for the child support case. With an active arrest warrant now hanging over his head, his options have narrowed considerably: post the $500 bond and hand over every financial record the court has demanded, or report to county jail for 60 days.
Whatever a person's politics or prior office, court orders are not suggestions. A judge told a former governor to produce his financial records. He refused. He tried to get the judge removed. He skipped the hearing. And now there is a warrant for his arrest. The legal system does not care about your title when you ignore its authority, and that principle is worth defending no matter who tests it.
