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Call recording laws

One-party and all-party consent states: call recording laws by state

Last reviewed: October 16, 2026 · General information, not legal advice

Short answer

Most US states are one-party consent states: you can record a phone call if you’re on the call, or if one person on it agrees. A smaller group are all-party consent states, often called two-party consent states, where everyone on the call has to consent. By our count, 11 states require all parties’ consent for phone calls, by statute or by court ruling, and two more are unsettled. The table below covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with the statute behind each answer.

We’re AIReceptionistGo, a 100% AI receptionist that records and transcribes the calls it answers for small businesses, so we had to work this out for ourselves. Every row was checked against the statute or a recognized legal source on the date above. Laws and court rulings change; check with a lawyer before relying on any of it.

Find your state
  • All-party · 11
  • Unsettled · 2
  • One-party · 38

The short answer

  • All-party consent states for phone calls (11, by statute or court ruling)

    California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.

  • Unsettled (2)

    Delaware and Michigan. Their laws or court rulings point both ways. The cautious reading, and the one the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press recommends for Delaware, is to treat them as all-party.

  • One-party consent

    the other 37 states and the District of Columbia.

  • Federal law

    is one-party, but it’s a minimum. A stricter state law still applies.

Why lists online disagree (some say 11 states, others 12 or 13) is explained below the table.

In a one-party consent state, yes, if you’re a participant in the call or one participant agrees, and you’re not recording to commit a crime or a civil wrong. In an all-party state, everyone on the call must consent. Several of those laws treat a recorded notice at the start of the call as consent (Washington, and Connecticut’s civil rule) or as the knowledge they require (Montana), and Massachusetts courts have said a recording everyone knows about isn’t secret.

Federal law allows a participant to record, or anyone with one participant’s consent: 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d).

Phone call recording laws by state

“All-party” means everyone on the call must consent. “One-party” means one participant’s consent is enough. Rows marked Unsettled have conflicting laws or rulings.

Consent for phone calls

Phone call recording laws by state
State Consent for phone calls Statute Notes
Alabama One-party Ala. Code § 13A-11-31
Alaska One-party Alaska Stat. § 42.20.310 Bills SB 85 and HB 86 (2025) would have required all-party consent; neither was voted on before the legislature’s last regular session ended in May 2026. A new bill could be filed in 2027
Arizona One-party Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3005
Arkansas One-party Ark. Code Ann. § 5-60-120 Source: Reporters Committee guide
California All-party Cal. Penal Code § 632 § 632.7 also requires everyone’s consent on cell and cordless calls, even non-confidential ones
Colorado One-party Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-9-303
Connecticut All-party Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-570d Civil law requires all parties’ consent on phone calls; criminal law is one-party. A recorded notice at the start counts
Delaware Unsettled Del. Code tit. 11, § 1335 and § 2402 One law says all parties, another says one party. Treated here as all-party
District of Columbia One-party D.C. Code § 23-542
Florida All-party Fla. Stat. § 934.03
Georgia One-party Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-66
Hawaii One-party Haw. Rev. Stat. § 803-42 A separate law bans hidden recording devices in private places; it doesn’t change the rule for calls
Idaho One-party Idaho Code § 18-6702
Illinois All-party 720 ILCS 5/14-2 Applies to secret recording of private conversations, under the law as amended in December 2014
Indiana One-party Ind. Code § 35-33.5-5-5
Iowa One-party Iowa Code § 808B.2
Kansas One-party Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-6101
Kentucky One-party Ky. Rev. Stat. § 526.020
Louisiana One-party La. Rev. Stat. § 15:1303
Maine One-party Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 15, § 710
Maryland All-party Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-402
Massachusetts All-party Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99 Bans secret recording; the state’s top court has held that a call everyone knows is recorded isn’t secret (2021)
Michigan Unsettled Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539c The text says all parties, but courts have let a participant record. Treated here as all-party
Minnesota One-party Minn. Stat. § 626A.02
Mississippi One-party Miss. Code Ann. § 41-29-531 Source: Reporters Committee guide
Missouri One-party Mo. Rev. Stat. § 542.402
Montana All-party Mont. Code Ann. § 45-8-213 Requires that all parties know about the recording; a notice is enough
Nebraska One-party Neb. Rev. Stat. § 86-290
Nevada All-party Nev. Rev. Stat. § 200.620 The Nevada Supreme Court requires all parties’ consent for phone calls (Lane v. Allstate, 1998; extended to cell phones in Sharpe v. State, 2015)
New Hampshire All-party N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 570-A:2
New Jersey One-party N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:156A-4
New Mexico One-party N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-12-1
New York One-party N.Y. Penal Law § 250.05
North Carolina One-party N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-287
North Dakota One-party N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-15-02
Ohio One-party Ohio Rev. Code § 2933.52
Oklahoma One-party Okla. Stat. tit. 13, § 176.4
Oregon One-party Or. Rev. Stat. § 165.540 One-party for phone calls; in-person conversations require telling everyone
Pennsylvania All-party 18 Pa. C.S. § 5704
Rhode Island One-party R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-35-21
South Carolina One-party S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-30
South Dakota One-party S.D. Codified Laws § 23A-35A-20
Tennessee One-party Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-601
Texas One-party Tex. Penal Code § 16.02
Utah One-party Utah Code Ann. § 77-23a-4
Vermont One-party No state statute No specific state law, so federal one-party law applies; privacy claims can still arise. Source: Reporters Committee guide
Virginia One-party Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-62
Washington All-party Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.030 A recorded announcement, made clearly to everyone and kept on the recording, counts as consent
West Virginia One-party W. Va. Code § 62-1D-3
Wisconsin One-party Wis. Stat. § 968.31
Wyoming One-party Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-3-702

Nearly every one-party law still makes it illegal to record for a criminal or wrongful purpose. That isn’t repeated on each row.

Our AI receptionist gives the recording notice on every call, whatever the state: see what callers hear.

Calls between states

When the two people on a call are in different states with different rules, there’s no single answer for which law applies. Courts have gone both ways. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press advises that, when a call involves participants from different states, you should “assume that the stricter state law will apply.”

The leading example is California. In Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), the California Supreme Court applied California’s all-party rule to calls recorded by a company in Georgia, a one-party state, after weighing California’s interest in protecting its residents’ privacy against Georgia’s. It didn’t award damages for past calls, because the rule hadn’t been clear until then. The court also noted that telling everyone at the start of the call that it’s being recorded avoids the problem.

What this means for a business that records calls

A business phone line takes calls from anywhere. You rarely know which state a caller is in, and many callers use a cell phone with an out-of-state number. That’s why many businesses announce at the start of every call that it may be recorded, wherever the caller is.

That’s what we do. Every call AIReceptionistGo answers starts with the AI receptionist introducing itself as an AI assistant and saying the call may be recorded, before any details are taken. What callers hear and how recordings are used is on our call recording and AI notice page. How recordings, transcripts and summaries work for you is on call recording and transcription, and who can open them is on security and privacy.

Announcing the recording doesn’t settle every question. Regulated professions such as law, finance and healthcare may have extra rules about recording and keeping calls. If that’s you, ask your lawyer which rules apply to your business.

Search for “two party consent states” and you’ll find lists of 11, 12 or 13 states. The differences usually come down to a few states:

  • Delaware and Michigan. Lists of 12 or 13 add one or both. Delaware has two laws in force that contradict each other. Michigan’s statute says all parties, but courts have read it as allowing a participant to record.

  • Nevada and Connecticut. Lists that only read statutes may leave them out. Nevada’s highest court has required all parties’ consent for phone calls since 1998, and Connecticut’s civil law requires it even though its criminal law doesn’t.

  • Oregon. It sometimes appears as all-party, but that rule is for in-person conversations. For phone calls, one party’s consent is enough.

  • Hawaii. It sometimes appears because of a separate law about hidden recording devices in private places. For phone calls, it’s one-party.

  • Illinois. Some older lists show it as one-party after court rulings in early 2014. The law was amended in December 2014 and again requires all parties’ consent for secret recordings of private conversations.

How we checked this table

We compared each state’s entry in the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Reporter’s Recording Guide with the text of the statute on the state’s official code website or, where that page couldn’t be read, an archived copy of the same official page; the link always goes to the official page. For a few states without a free official code online, we used a recognized legal publisher or the Reporters Committee guide, and we link the source we used. We review this table whenever we learn that a state has changed its law, and the date at the top is the last full check. If you spot something out of date, tell us through the contact page.

Questions

What are one-party consent states?

One-party consent states let you record a phone call if you’re a participant, or if one participant agrees. Most US states, and the District of Columbia, follow this rule, as does federal law. It doesn’t allow recording for a criminal or wrongful purpose, and a stricter state’s law may still apply when the other person is there.

What are two-party consent states?

Two-party consent states, more accurately all-party consent states, require everyone on the call to consent before it’s recorded. For phone calls, that’s California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington, with Delaware and Michigan unsettled.

Is California a one-party consent state?

No. California requires the consent of all parties to record a confidential call, and a separate law requires everyone’s consent on cell and cordless calls even when they aren’t confidential. California courts have also applied its rule to calls recorded from other states when the person recorded was in California.

Is Texas a one-party consent state?

Yes. In Texas you can record a phone call if you’re a participant or one participant consents, unless the recording is for a criminal or wrongful purpose. If the other person is in an all-party state, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press advises assuming that state’s stricter rule applies.

Do I have to tell callers my business records calls?

Recording laws in one-party states usually don’t require a notice when a participant records. All-party states require everyone’s consent, and announcing the recording at the start is the usual way to get it. Separate laws in some states deal with telling callers they’re speaking with an AI; see our call recording and AI notice. Since callers can be anywhere, many businesses announce both on every call.

Does an AI receptionist count as a party to the call?

Recording laws were written before AI receptionists existed, and we don’t know of one that answers this directly, so we don’t rely on it. The safe approach doesn’t depend on the answer: tell every caller at the start that they’re speaking with an AI assistant and that the call may be recorded. That’s what AIReceptionistGo does on every call.

Is this legal advice?

No. This page is general information, checked against official sources on the date at the top. Laws and court rulings change, and the rules can depend on your industry and your callers. Ask a lawyer licensed in your state before relying on it.

Recording handled on every call

If you want every call answered, recorded, transcribed and summarized, with the recording notice built in, see how it works and the method behind our call protocols. On Pay As You Go there’s no monthly fee and you pay $0.99 per answered call; other plans are on pricing.

This page is general information, not legal advice.

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