Call Recording Laws in Kentucky

Plain-English summary

Kentucky is a one-party-consent state. Ky. Rev. Stat. § 526.010 defines “eavesdrop” in a way that excludes participants from the prohibition, and § 526.020 criminalizes unconsented interception by non-participants.

A participant may record an ordinary phone call in Kentucky without notifying the other party.

Case law of note

No appellate decision in Kentucky has materially reshaped the participant-recording rule in recent decades. Lower-court decisions exist but do not change the analytical framework set by the statute and by general federal precedent under § 2511.

Edge cases and special rules

In-person vs. phone. Same — one-party
Voicemail. Leaving a message creates the recording at the recipient’s direction; reviewing one’s own voicemail is not interception.
Vicarious consent. Several federal courts have recognized a parental-consent doctrine permitting a parent to consent on behalf of a minor child (Pollock v. Pollock, 154 F.3d 601 (6th Cir. 1998)). State law varies; no controlling Kentucky appellate decision on the question.
Law enforcement. Court-authorized intercepts are governed by a separate framework and are outside the scope of this page.
Cross-border calls. Where any participant is in an all-party state, treat the stricter rule as the safer default. See cross-border calls.

Penalties and remedies

Criminal: Class D felony under § 526.020.

Civil: Common-law claims.

Evidence: a recording made in violation of the Kentucky statute is generally inadmissible in Kentucky proceedings. Federal § 2515 separately bars use of unlawfully intercepted communications in federal proceedings.

Practical guidance

If you are recording an ordinary phone call: you may record without notifying the other party, but verbal consent is the safer practice if the recording may be used in a proceeding.
Suggested opening: See our consent script templates for jurisdiction-specific language.
If the other party objects: stop recording. Continued recording over an objection is a separate factual question that no consent statute helps you with.
What to keep: the date and time of the call, the parties’ phone numbers, a description of the consent given (express verbal, continued participation after notice, etc.), and the audio file itself.