(WKYT/WDRB+WAVE) – A judge in the Kentucky Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion on Wednesday, Sept. 16, ordering the immediate release of former Governor Matt Bevin from custody as he was serving a 60-day jail sentence for contempt of court.
Bevin was booked into the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on Sept. 3, following a warrant issued by Jefferson Circuit Judge Angela Johnson in relation to the ongoing divorce proceedings with his former wife, Glenna Bevin. Their adopted son, Jonah Bevin, intervened in the case last year to seek child support, prompting court orders that required the former governor to turn over specific financial documents.
Judge Johnson remanded Bevin on Sept. 4 to serve the full 60-day term after ruling he failed to provide all required financial disclosures by a court-ordered deadline in June.
Bevin’s attorneys filed the emergency motion arguing that his incarceration was an unlawful deprivation of liberty without an opportunity to purge the contempt.
In an 11-page order entered Wednesday, Court of Appeals Judge Allison E. Jones ruled that Bevin made a colorable legal showing that his continued confinement could be unlawful.
Kentucky law holds that civil contempt is designed to compel compliance rather than punish, meaning an incarcerated person must hold “the keys to the jail in his pocket” by being given a clear way to comply and secure release.
Alternatively, if the 60-day sentence was meant as a punitive criminal contempt sanction, Bevin would have been entitled to formal due process proceedings, which were not conducted.
“If the Respondent Judge intended Matthew’s incarceration to remain a coercive civil-contempt sanction, Matthew must have a presently available means by which he can purge the contempt and obtain his release,” Jones wrote. “Yet, on the limited record presently before this Court, no such mechanism is apparent.”
Jones emphasized that Bevin’s time “unlawfully incarcerated” causes immediate and irreparable injury that cannot later be restored, given that the 60-day term would likely expire before a standard appellate review could conclude.
The appellate ruling stays Bevin’s incarceration pending further orders from the court and directs his immediate release from jail.
The court noted the ruling does not vacate the underlying contempt finding, excuse any prior noncompliance, or relieve Bevin of his obligation to produce the required financial records.
Bevin’s estranged adopted son Jonah Bevin issued a statement about the former governor’s release through his attorney:
“I don’t want this to be about punishment. I am not seeking revenge. I am seeking fairness.
I deserve answers and accountability and a fair chance to move forward. Matthew has another opportunity now to do what the court has been asking him to do and turn over the financial documents. I hope he takes it, follows the court’s orders, and doesn’t disappear again.
Court orders are not optional, no matter who you are. Accountability means showing up, telling the truth, and following the law.
A lot of people have turned my case and my name into something political. For me, it isn’t. This is my life. Being a former governor should not put anyone above a child’s right to safety and support. Justice should not depend on power, money, or a last name.
And this is bigger than one family. Every adoptee like me deserves to be heard. There are other kids who have been abandoned and hurt who do not have a famous last name and whose stories are not in the news. They deserve answers and accountability too.
My father is out of jail tonight. I’m still waiting for the documents.
I hope he complies with the court this time, and that he doesn’t disappear again.”