Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said his use of a state-owned plane is none of taxpayers' business as long as they aren't picking up the tab for his flights.

“The real question is: Why does it matter what the purpose (of the trip) is?" Bevin told the Bowling Green Daily News on Thursday. "Did taxpayers pay for it? If they did, then they should know the purpose. If they didn’t pay for it, it’s none of their business.”

Bevin's remarks were in response to a question about a Courier Journal report this week regarding his flights to nine different states on a Kentucky State Police plane this summer.

The plane, which is frequently used by Bevin, has flown to airports in Kansas, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama and Georgia since June.

Spokespersons for the governor declined to comment on the purpose of any of these trips or if his campaign or another political committee will reimburse the state for the cost of any trips. His reelection campaign and the Republican Party also have declined to comment.

None of them responded to calls on Friday seeking comment.

State police logs show that two of the governor's flights were billed at $925 an hour, totaling over $4,500. The department has not yet returned an open records request for all of Bevin's flight logs on the state police plane since June and any reimbursements paid to the state for those trips.

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Governors are not required under law to provide their daily schedules and have commonly had their campaigns or state party reimburse the state if they use state-owned planes for personal and political purposes, like traveling to campaign fundraisers.

A Courier Journal analysis of state and federal campaign databases showed the state has been reimbursed nearly $200,000 for Bevin's travel through his first 3 1/2 years as governor.

Nearly all of the $174,000 repaid in 2017 and 2018 came from the Republican Party of Kentucky and the Republican Governors Association, while Bevin's campaign reported in its last primary filing that it reimbursed the state for $19,421 of air travel for the first half of 2019. None of the payments to the state listed in these committees' report are itemized to detail what specific trips they are reimbursing.

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Former Gov. Steve Beshear also used state-owned planes extensively for personal or political use during his two terms as governor, often drawing criticism at the time from Republican officials. A review of Federal Election Commission and Kentucky Registry of Election Finance databases showed Beshear's campaign and the Kentucky Democratic Party combined to pay the state for more than $280,000 of his air travel during his eight years in office.

According to the Bevin campaign's new filing with the election finance registry on Friday — for the period from the end of the May primary to Sept. 6 — there were two expenditures made to the state for "travel expense" and "travel event exp" on July 17 for $237 and $1,572.

One more payment on the latest filing was made to the state on Aug. 16 for $2,775, only identified as "travel." State police records show that Bevin's flight to Wisconsin and Chicago on July 31 cost the state that same total.

Bevin told the Bowling Green newspaper that he has "used the plane for personal reasons and used it to speak to different organizations," either paying for the trips himself or having an outside organization pick up the tab for trips that aren't for the benefit of the state.

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After the initial Courier Journal story was published, Bevin used the same plane to travel to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, attending a ceremony at the White House where Kelly Craft of Kentucky was sworn in as ambassador to the United Nations.

Asked before the flight what the purpose of the trip was and if any outside group would reimburse the state for it, Bevin spokespeople again declined to comment.

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4472 and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courierjournal.com/subscribe.