# Pillen doesn't carry state-issued phone, raising transparency concerns  
**Published:** 2026-06-19T10:00:00.000Z  
**Source:** [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraskas-governor-doesnt-carry-a-state-issued-phone-critics-call-it-an-abuse-of-state-disclosure-laws/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/pillen-doesn-t-carry-state-issued-phone-raising-transparency-concerns

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen does not carry a state-issued cellphone and has not left any record of work-related calls on a personal device, his office revealed in response to a public records request filed by [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraskas-governor-doesnt-carry-a-state-issued-phone-critics-call-it-an-abuse-of-state-disclosure-laws/). The revelation marks the latest in a series of steps the Republican governor has taken to shield his communications from public scrutiny, according to government transparency advocates.

Michael J. Donley, the governor's general counsel, said in an email this month that no cellphone records exist because "Governor Pillen does not have a state-issued mobile phone." The response came more than four months after Flatwater filed its public records request for call logs from September 2023 onward. Pillen is the first Nebraska governor in at least two decades not to carry a state-owned cellphone, according to the news outlet.

Gavin Geis, director of [Common Cause Nebraska](https://www.commoncausenebraska.org/), a government watchdog group, called the practice an abuse of the public records process. "It's absurd to think that simply moving his business to a private cellphone means that none of those records are available to the public," Geis said. "That's just an abuse of the whole public records process."

The request came after Flatwater began investigating [a $2.5 million no-bid emergency contract](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/01/15/auditor-flags-possible-pillen-favoritism-in-2-5m-no-bid-bioeconomy-contract-with-lobbyist/) the Nebraska Department of Economic Development awarded to a lobbyist who had joined Pillen on state trips to South Korea and Japan. State Auditor Mike Foley later [referred findings from his audit](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/ded-pillen-no-bid-contract-fight-with-auditor-heads-to-state-patrol-ag/) to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office and State Patrol for investigation.

This move adds to a pattern. In March 2023, just two months into his term, Pillen broke with more than 30 years of gubernatorial practice by refusing to release a public schedule. Later that year, his office refused to release four emails citing "executive privilege"—a justification that does not exist in Nebraska's public records laws.

Nebraska law requires that "all records and documents, regardless of physical form, of or belonging to this state" are public record, with narrow exceptions for investigative police records, personal information, trade secrets, and other sensitive documents. Prior attorneys general have held for decades that records from public officials' personal devices used for state business are subject to disclosure requirements. In 1997, then-Attorney General Don Stenberg issued an opinion declaring that "public records need not be in the physical possession of an agency to be subject to disclosure under state records acts."

Laura Strimple, the governor's spokeswoman, dismissed the inquiry as a "non-story" focused on "political hits and sensationalism." She said the governor's office "is transparent, follows the law, and has diligently responded to the countless public records requests we receive." She did not respond to follow-up questions about whether Pillen uses his phone for state business or whether his office would consider such communications public records.

The dispute highlights how government records serve as a tool for accountability. In 2013, the Omaha World-Herald used call logs from a state-issued phone to reveal that Nebraska's lieutenant governor had made 2,300 calls to women other than his wife. He resigned a day after the newspaper contacted him about its findings.

## Sources

- [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraskas-governor-doesnt-carry-a-state-issued-phone-critics-call-it-an-abuse-of-state-disclosure-laws/)
- [Nebraska Examiner article on the $2.5 million bioeconomy contract](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/01/15/auditor-flags-possible-pillen-favoritism-in-2-5m-no-bid-bioeconomy-contract-with-lobbyist/)
- [Flatwater Free Press article on auditor's contract investigation referral](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/ded-pillen-no-bid-contract-fight-with-auditor-heads-to-state-patrol-ag/)
- [Flatwater Free Press article on executive privilege controversy](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraska-governors-use-of-executive-privilege-to-withhold-records-troubles-transparency-advocates/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Flatwater Free Press, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraskas-governor-doesnt-carry-a-state-issued-phone-critics-call-it-an-abuse-of-state-disclosure-laws/.