Call recording laws by state: one-party, all-party and mixed

Read this first

This page sorts the 50 states by how their statutes treat recording a phone call. It is general information, not legal advice. We read each linked statute in October 2026 and re-opened a sample against the legislature's own site for this page. Courts read some of these laws differently from the plain text, and states amend them. Confirm with a lawyer licensed in the state before you build a recording or call-tracking setup on this table.

The federal baseline is in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d): a party to a call, or anyone with one party's prior consent, may record it unless the purpose is criminal or tortious. States can be stricter. Our plain-language guide to recording business calls explains the concepts. This page is the 50-state lookup.

Which states are one-party, all-party or mixed?

By the plain reading of each statute, 35 states are one-party, 9 are all-party and 6 are mixed or unsettled. The groups below follow the data we reviewed in October 2026.

• All-party (9): California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington.
• Mixed or unsettled (6): Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont.
• One-party (35): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Call recording rules for all 50 states

"Mixed" means the state's statutes point in different directions, treat phone calls and in-person talk differently, or have no clear text. Each state name links to our start-a-business page for that state, and each statute links to the legislature or the code host we read.

How to read the table

One-party means you can record a call you are part of. All-party means every person on the call must consent first. In practice, consent often comes from a recorded notice at the start of the call, and the caller who stays on the line has been told. Washington writes that into the statute: RCW 9.73.030 treats consent as obtained when one party announces to the others, in a reasonably effective way, that the call is about to be recorded, and the announcement itself must be on the recording. Connecticut is more specific for phone calls: § 52-570d accepts written or recorded consent at the start, a recorded verbal notice at the start, or an automatic tone that repeats about every fifteen seconds.

The table shows the rule for the state named. It does not say who wins when two states disagree. Your caller's state, your state and the state where the recording is stored can all be different.

Where the table can mislead you

Several states do not fit a single label, and the differences are practical.

• Same state, two answers. Delaware's wiretap law lets a party record, but 11 Del. C. § 1335(a)(4) reaches an interception made without the consent of all parties. Michigan's text says all parties, yet a 1982 appeals court case read it to leave out a participant who records their own call.
• Phone versus in person. Oregon needs one participant's consent for telecommunications, but ORS 165.540(1)(c) requires that all participants in a conversation be specifically informed, and the statute treats video conferencing as a conversation. That matters for video estimates and site visits.
• A statute that narrows with its wording. California's § 632 covers confidential communications, meaning circumstances that reasonably suggest a party wants the call kept between the participants. Montana's 45-8-213 covers hidden recording devices, and persons given warning are exempt. Both reward a clear notice.
• Felony in some states, civil exposure in others. Maryland makes a violation a felony with up to 5 years or a $10,000 fine, Massachusetts up to 5 years in state prison or a $10,000 fine, and Florida a third-degree felony. Connecticut's statute also allows private suits.
• No clear text. We did not find a Vermont statute setting a consent rule for phone calls. Federal law still applies, and a notice is the simple answer.

What if you work in more than one state?

Home-service companies near a state line, or with customers who own property in one state and live in another, take calls from everyone. Do not try to work out each caller's state in real time. Pick the strictest rule you might meet and apply it to every recorded line. The all-party group above is short enough to design for: a spoken notice at the start of the call, captured on the recording, and a way for the caller to decline.

The same logic applies to phone numbers. A business line with a local area code can ring from a customer who now lives somewhere else, and a cell phone can be anywhere. If your team uses a business number with call tracking, see how to set up call tracking. Tracking numbers that record calls need the notice as much as any other line.

What this means for phone systems and AI receptionists

An AI receptionist answers, records or transcribes, and often stores the audio. Treat that as recording in every state in the table. Put the notice in the first sentence of the greeting, before the assistant collects a name or an address, and keep the recording of the notice itself. Our greeting and script ideas include recording wording. For ordinary lines, a business phone system can play the same notice before it connects the call.

Outbound calls from technicians' phones are easy to forget. If your office records them, the notice has to be said or played there too. Text messages follow different rules, covered in the TCPA guide.

What to check before you act on this table

1. Open the statute for your state and any state where many customers call from. Read the exceptions, not just the headline rule.
2. Decide whether you record at all. A written call summary in your CRM avoids storing audio.
3. Add the notice to every greeting, every automated assistant and every outbound recorded line.
4. Record the notice and keep it, so you can show callers were told.
5. Set a retention period and limit who can listen.
6. Have a lawyer in your state review the setup, then re-check the table once a year. This is general information, and state laws change.

Frequently asked questions