Kentucky Today
A state Court of Appeals judge on Friday ordered a Jefferson Family Court judge to recall an arrest warrant issued for former Gov. Matt Bevin, ruling the judge did not have the authority to issue the warrant.
Bevin’s warrant was issued Tuesday after Judge Angela Johnson held him in contempt of court for repeatedly failing to provide court-ordered personal financial information in an ongoing support case involving his estranged, adopted son.
Bevin was sentenced to 60 days in the Jefferson County jail unless he pays a $500 bond and provides the required information to the court.
Before the sentence was imposed, Bevin’s attorney filed a motion asking Johnson to recuse herself from the case, citing a pending motion filed the day before with the Kentucky Supreme Court seeking her removal. The motion argued she lacked jurisdiction to issue a sentencing.
In the motion seeking to remove Johnson, Bevin’s attorney said the judge was using her role to attract media attention and made false claims about the former governor.
Johnson declined to take up the motion, saying she had checked with the Kentucky Supreme Court and learned the motion had not been properly filed.
Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Audra Eckerle agreed with Bevin that Johnson did not have the authority to issue the warrant until the state’s chief justice ruled.
“Thus, once Bevin made the motion to recuse her, Judge Johnson was prohibited from proceeding further on the merits of his case,” Eckerle said in her order.
The case centers on the legal battle between Bevin and his estranged son, Jonah Bevin, 19.
Jonah Bevin filed to intervene in the divorce case between Matt and Glenna Bevin in April 2025, seeking retroactive child support and financial assistance. Jonah alleges the Bevins, who adopted him as a child, later abandoned him at an abusive facility in Jamaica.