Former Kentucky governor Matt Bevin has been arrested on a movie set and ordered to serve 60 days in jail after repeatedly failing to comply with court orders in a child support dispute involving his adopted son.
Mr Bevin, 59, was taken into custody by Bourbon County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday after they received a report that he was participating in filming in Paris, Kentucky. Sheriff Tony Asbury said deputies confirmed an active warrant before arresting him without incident.
He was initially taken to the Bourbon-Nicholas County Regional Detention Centre before being booked into Louisville Metro Corrections. Mr Asbury said the former governor was “very cooperative” during the arrest.
Mr Bevin appeared before Jefferson County Family Court Judge Angela Johnson on Friday. The judge ruled that he must serve the 60-day sentence in jail rather than under house arrest, which had been requested by his lawyers.
The warrant arose from Mr Bevin’s refusal to provide unredacted financial records, including documents relating to his income and assets, in proceedings over child support for Jonah Bevin, who is 19.
Judge Johnson had ordered Mr Bevin to disclose the information so that the level of support could be determined. Lawyers for Jonah Bevin said the former governor submitted some documents, but they were redacted, and he failed to file the revised disclosures the court later requested.
Mr Bevin was found in contempt twice this year. A further order issued in June imposed a $500 fine and a 60-day jail sentence after he missed the deadline to provide the financial records. He also failed to attend several hearings in person, including one at which he attempted to appear remotely.
Jonah Bevin’s lawyers, John Helmers Jr and Melina Hettiaratchi, said the case had become public despite their client not seeking that outcome.
“There is profound sadness in that Jonah must watch his father choose jail over fulfilling his obligations to support his son,” they said in a statement.
The dispute began after Mr Bevin’s former wife, Glenna Bevin, filed for divorce in 2023. Jonah, who was adopted from Ethiopia at the age of five, later intervened in the proceedings to seek child support.
At the time of his arrest, Mr Bevin was working as an extra on The Greatest Christmas Gift, a family Christmas film being made by Great American Family. The production, starring Danica McKellar and Matthew Marsden, is scheduled to premiere on November 29.
Mr Bevin, a Republican, served as Kentucky’s governor from 2015 to 2019.
