Judge: Former KY governor Bevin barred from wife’s home due to alleged ‘unsettling’ acts

A judge limited former Republican governor Matt Bevin’s access to the house where his estranged wife, Glenna Bevin, lives this week after she alleged that he regularly followed her around in the home, asking her questions about their divorce case.

Glenna Bevin called the former governor’s behavior “aggressive and unsettling” in an affidavit attached to an order seeking exclusive use of the home they co-own in Anchorage. She described Matt Bevin’s behavior in the home as “disruptive to the household,” as he’d stay for hours against her wishes, following her into bedrooms and bathrooms and not leaving until after she goes to bed.

The ruling from Jefferson Circuit Judge Angela Johnson came after a motion from Glenna Bevin asked for exclusive use of the Anchorage home, that the two communicate only through a parenting phone application, that Glenna receive half the funds from the sale of another Jefferson County home last year and to hold the former governor in contempt for a failure to answer discovery.

Johnson granted Glenna Bevin’s motion on all counts except the last.

Matt Bevin was not held in contempt, with Johnson noting that such an order would be “premature.”

Johnson cited his hesitancy in producing certain discovery documents due to the risk of having confidential information about the family exposed because of their status as former governor and first lady.

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Glenna Bevin currently lives in the pair’s Anchorage house with two of their children, one adult and one minor. Matt Bevin primarily lives in another home they co-own in Jefferson County. As part of the order, Johnson ruled that the Anchorage home be listed for sale within 60 days of the order.

Johnson gave Bevin one week to retrieve “essential” items like clothes and work-related things, he needs from the house. After that, he will have to seek permission from his wife or a judge before reentry.

The former first lady filed for divorce last May citing an “irretrievably broken” marriage, and the couple has been separated for more than a year.

While Glenna Bevin remains in their Anchorage residence with their minor child, Matt Bevin has relocated to another property in the same city. The ruling noted that Matt Bevin had not slept in the Anchorage home in two years, using that fact as reason to side with Glenna Bevin in her request.

The order cast Matt Bevin as a “caring father” who has yet to come to terms with the divorce.

Johnson wrote that the former governor “seems to be a caring father that is trying to maintain as much a sense of normalcy as possible while the divorce proceeds. While (Matt Bevin) admitted that he did not want the divorce, (he) seems to be trying to keep the parties’ relationship and maintain a ‘business as usual’ environment. However, the truth of the matter is that the parties are getting a divorce.

“Normalcy and the ‘business as usual’ environment are gone.”

Matt Bevin, 57, was Kentucky’s Republican governor from 2015 to 2019. He was defeated in his re-election bid by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Bevin teased at another run for governor this year, including a dramatic appearance at the state Capitol shortly before the candidate filing deadline, but he drove off after giving a speech to reporters.