# Prison loses appeal on inmate phone records request  
**Published:** 2026-04-24T00:00:00.000Z  
**Source:** [KY Attorney General Open Records](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/prison-loses-appeal-on-inmate-phone-records-request

Kentucky's Attorney General ruled that the [Southeast State Correctional Complex](https://corrections.ky.gov/Facilities/AI/SSCC/Pages/default.aspx) in Wheelwright did not violate the state's Open Records Act when it denied an inmate's request for copies of his phone calls, according to a [decision released April 24](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf).

Inmate Larry Stambaugh requested records of phone calls he made between January and May 2021, as well as a recording of a conversation with his uncle. The [medium-security facility](https://corrections.ky.gov/Facilities/AI/SSCC/Pages/default.aspx) in Floyd County denied the request, arguing the phone call records are not kept by the prison or the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Instead, [the prison said Securus Technologies, the contractor providing inmate communication services](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf), maintains those records.

Under Kentucky law, "public records" must be prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public agency. The Attorney General's office determined that Stambaugh failed to provide sufficient evidence that the Department of Corrections actually possesses the phone records in question. [While the prison contractually has access to such records for investigative purposes, merely having the right to demand records is different from actually possessing them](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf), the decision stated.

[Stambaugh argued the facility must retain the records because it has issued over 120 disciplinary reports involving inmate telephone account misuse](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf). He also claimed another inmate successfully obtained similar records through an open records request. The Attorney General rejected both arguments, noting that an agency obtaining records from a contractor in one case does not prove it obtained similar records in an unrelated case.

[Securus Technologies provides inmate communication and entertainment services for the Department of Corrections under a contract](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf). [The company charges callers per-minute rates and pays a portion of its revenue back to the state in commissions](https://www.lpm.org/investigate/2021-11-09/calls-from-kentucky-prisons-become-cheaper-for-some-more-expensive-for-others-under-new-rate-cap).

[Stambaugh has 30 days from the decision to appeal to Floyd County Circuit Court](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf), according to the Attorney General's office. [The office noted it did not address whether the recorded phone calls could be exempt from disclosure as "purely personal" communications under state law](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf).

## Sources

- [KY Attorney General Open Records](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf)
- [Southeast State Correctional Complex official information](https://corrections.ky.gov/Facilities/AI/SSCC/Pages/default.aspx)
- [Kentucky prison phone rates reporting](https://www.lpm.org/investigate/2021-11-09/calls-from-kentucky-prisons-become-cheaper-for-some-more-expensive-for-others-under-new-rate-cap)

---

This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from KY Attorney General Open Records, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-179.pdf.