By Deborah Yetter, Kentucky Lantern · July 28, 2026

A hearing on whether former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and his ex-wife, Glenna, are required to support their estranged son, Jonah Bevin,  got underway Tuesday without Matt Bevin.
Bevin failed to show up for the hearing despite an order from Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson that he attend in person.
Bevin already is subject to an arrest warrant for contempt of court for failing to disclose financial records in the case brought by Jonah, who alleged his adoptive parents abandoned him at a brutally abusive facility in Jamaica and did nothing to help after local authorities removed boys from the facility amid an abuse investigation.
Glenna Bevin did attend Tuesday’s hearing with her lawyer.
Matt Bevin’s lawyer, Jesse Mudd, said his client did not plan to attend but didn’t say where he was.
Bevin also skipped a previous hearing in the case the judge had asked him to attend, claiming he was tending to damage from his home in Maine from a boulder that crashed into it.

Former Gov. Bevin again faces jail or fines for failure to show up in court

The judge directed Tuesday’s hearing to proceed without Matt Bevin, who is facing a 60-day jail sentence for contempt of court.
Jonah, one of four children adopted by the Bevins in 2012 from Ethiopia, also was not present for the start of the hearing.
His lawyers said Jonah, who was flying in from out of state, had a flight delayed but would arrive by around 11 a.m.
The first witness was Dawn J. Post, a New York lawyer and child advocate, who worked to return Jonah and the other youths to the United States.
Post testified the Bevins were the only parents who did not immediately respond to requests to help their sons.
Post said that Jonah appeared very depressed.
“He knew that his parents did not want him back in the United States,” she said.

This story is developing and will be updated.