Former KY Governor’s Child Support Case Sparks GOP Legislative Proposal Three Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have introduced a bill that would prohibit children from intervening in their parents’ divorce cases and limit their ability to seek child support, a move critics say is motivated by political favoritism toward former Governor Matt Bevin. The legislation, House Bill 707, comes amid a contentious legal battle between Bevin and his estranged son, Jonah Bevin, who alleges his adoptive parents abandoned him at 17 by placing him in a harsh youth facility in Jamaica without resources or a high school diploma. The proposed law, which does not explicitly reference the Bevin family’s divorce case, mirrors developments in the ongoing dispute. Jonah, now 19, has intervened in the case to seek financial support from his adoptive parents, who are seeking to finalize a divorce settlement. The bill’s sponsors—Rep. Steven Doan, R-Erlanger; Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville; and Rep. Stephanie Dietz, R-Edgewood—include lawmakers who previously worked in Bevin’s administration. Doan, a family law attorney and primary sponsor of HB 707, stated he filed the bill after learning about the case and fearing it could set a precedent for adult children attempting to reopen or influence their parents’ divorce proceedings. Jonah’s lawyer, John H. Helmers Jr., condemned the bill as “the worst type of political cronyism,” arguing it was tailored to benefit Bevin. He claimed the legislation was designed to shield the former governor from financial accountability, calling it a “smell of a rat” in its targeting of the Bevin family.#jonah_bevin #matthew_bevin #stephanie_dietz #steven_doan #john_hodgson
