How a Maine home is part of a former Kentucky governor’s legal troubles

 Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin speaks in the Kentucky Capitol Rotunda in January 2023. (Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press) A former Kentucky governor has a warrant out for his arrest after missing deadlines in a child support and divorce case — and his western Maine home is a part of the drama. Matt Bevin, a Republican who led Kentucky from 2015-19, [failed to meet](https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/05/matt-bevin-arrest-warrant-contempt-case-financial-documents/90401515007/) a Louisville judge’s order last week to turn over documents related to a long-running case in which Bevin’s estranged, adopted son is seeking financial support. The 19-year-old son, Jonah, has [leveled claims of abuse and abandonment](https://kentuckylantern.com/2025/02/28/i-dont-have-anybody-adoptive-teen-son-of-a-ky-governor-talks-about-life-on-his-own/) against Bevin and his ex-wife for sending him to an allegedly abusive youth facility in Jamaica when he was 17. The couple divorced last year. Bevin, a 59-year-old businessman who grew up in Shelburne, New Hampshire, and attended the private Gould Academy in Bethel, violated a judge’s order to appear in person in a Louisville courtroom in late May. He instead appeared via Zoom to say that he was at his vacation home in Bethel in western Maine and that damage from a “very large boulder” to the home required his attention. The judge didn’t accept the explanation and held Bevin in contempt of court, though he avoided jail time by paying a $250 fine. Related [From 2019: Tucker Carlson pulls plug on plans for Fox News studio in Maine’s Bryant Pond](https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/14/tucker-carlson-pulls-plug-on-plans-for-fox-news-studio-in-maines-bryant-pond/) It was not clear if Bevin was referring to a home actually in Bethel or if he meant Bryant Pond, the nearby Oxford County village where a town official confirmed he (along with well-known political figure [Tucker Carlson](https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/14/tucker-carlson-pulls-plug-on-plans-for-fox-news-studio-in-maines-bryant-pond/)) owns property. Advertisement Bevin then missed another court deadline on June 5 to turn over documents related to the child support case. His attorneys provided some documents minutes before the deadline and made an emergency request for an extension. Jefferson County Family Court Judge Angela Johnson rejected the motion and ordered Bevin’s arrest and a 60-day jail sentence that cannot be waived by another fine in the civil case. Bevin had still not turned himself in as of Friday afternoon, and his whereabouts were not immediately known. Bevin has not responded by phone to a Press Herald reporter’s requests for comment this week. Johnson, whom Bevin [unsuccessfully](https://www.lpm.org/news/2026-05-08/kentucky-supreme-court-denies-former-gov-bevins-request-to-remove-judge-from-divorce-case) sought to have removed from his case in May after alleging she was biased and using him as a “political piñata,” wrote in her order last Friday that Bevin “holds the keys to his own jail cell.” Bevin, who has five biological children and four adopted children from Ethiopia with his ex-wife, said in a statement through an attorney this month that Jonah Bevin’s request for retroactive child support is “not allowed by law in Kentucky or any state in America” and would result in “legal mayhem.” Bevin also said he and his ex-wife’s love for Jonah has “never waivered from the moment he was adopted by our family when he was 5 years old.” Jonah said through his attorneys that Bevin’s statement was “an offer of blackmail (intended to) look like help.” The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond Friday to a question about whether the office has received a request to locate Bevin. Bevin served one term before Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, unseated him in 2019. Copy the Story Link [](https://www.pressherald.com/author/billy-kobin) [Billy KobinStaff Writer](https://www.pressherald.com/author/billy-kobin) Billy covers politics for the Press Herald. He joined the newsroom in 2026 after also covering politics for the Bangor Daily News for about two and a half years. Before moving to Maine in 2023, the Wisconsin. [More by Billy Kobin](https://www.pressherald.com/author/billy-kobin)