Grace Pauline Kelley, daughter of country music star Wynonna Judd, has been denied a requested furlough to give birth while incarcerated, according to reports. Kelley, 30, is currently serving a 15-month sentence in Virginia after pleading guilty on June 18 to driving with a suspended or revoked license in connection with an October incident.
Kelley's legal team filed a petition on July 2 requesting a temporary release for a scheduled C-section, reportedly due around August 16. The petition stated that the delivery would require a three-day period of being "confined to bed." However, during a July 16 hearing, Judge Clark A. Ritchie denied the furlough request. It remains unclear if Kelley has given birth.
Kelley's counsel argued that denying the furlough would complicate the delivery, prevent the child's father from being present, and prohibit family visits. However, court documents obtained by Us Weekly indicate that Kelley has "no contact with her biological family in Tennessee," including her mother. The documents also allege she receives "no contact or support from that side of the family."
Kelley is expected to be taken to the hospital by the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office for the procedure. Upon her release from Rockingham County Jail in Harrisonburg, Virginia, she will begin five years of supervised probation.
This is not Kelley's first encounter with the legal system. She gave birth to her four-year-old daughter, Kaliyah Grace, during a temporary prison release in 2022. The child has been in Judd's custody. Kelley was arrested twice in 2024. In April, she was apprehended in Alabama and charged with indecent exposure and soliciting prostitution after allegedly exposing herself by a highway while holding a sign that read "A Ride for a Ride." Her soliciting charge was later dropped, and the indecent exposure charge was reduced to public lewdness.
In August, Kelley was arrested in Georgia on misdemeanor charges including fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving with a suspended/revoked license, and improper motorcycle equipment. She was accused of stealing a pastor's van in rural Virginia, which police later determined was totaled. According to police reports, she tested positive for heroin use that evening and told officers she had "sold her soul to the devil."
Previous arrests for Kelley include charges related to methamphetamine production, evading arrest, and driving while intoxicated.