How do you use the disclosure script builder?
Pick your office's state, and the caller's state if you know it. The sheet shows which consent rule to plan for, the stricter of the two. Then choose why you record, whether calls are transcribed, and how a caller who does not want to be recorded can reach you instead. The opening line, the voicemail greeting and a short staff note fill in as you go.
"Download Word" saves the whole sheet as a .docx you can edit. Print leaves out the form and prints only the scripts and the staff note. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved, so print or download before you close the tab. With JavaScript off, the scripts print with bracketed blanks to fill in by hand.
Which states need everyone's consent to record a call?
The table covers phone calls in all 50 states and DC. Each row was checked on 2 October 2026 against the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) recording guide page for that state, which is linked from the statute citation. Those pages were last updated between 2019 and 2025, and laws change, so read the statute itself before you rely on a row. In-person conversations, video and hidden cameras follow different rules in several states and are not covered here.
| State | Consent to record a phone call | Statute (links to RCFP) |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | One party | Ala. Code § 13A-11-31 |
| Alaska | One party | Alaska Stat. § 42.20.310 |
| Arizona | One party | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-3005 |
| Arkansas | One party | Ark. Code § 5-60-120 |
| California | All partiesCovers confidential calls; cellular and cordless calls need everyone's consent regardless. | Cal. Penal Code § 632 |
| Colorado | One party | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-9-303 |
| Connecticut | All parties (civil law)Criminal law is one-party, but recording a phone call without every party's consent risks civil liability. A recorded warning is one of the ways to get consent. | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-570d |
| Delaware | Unsettled: treat as all partiesTwo statutes conflict (one-party in § 2402, all-party in § 1335). RCFP advises following the stricter one. | Del. Code tit. 11, §§ 1335, 2402 |
| District of Columbia | One party | D.C. Code § 23-542 |
| Florida | All parties | Fla. Stat. § 934.03 |
| Georgia | One party | Ga. Code §§ 16-11-62, -66 |
| Hawaii | One partyRecording in private places needs everyone's consent under a separate law. | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 803-42 |
| Idaho | One party | Idaho Code § 18-6702 |
| Illinois | All partiesCovers private calls made with a reasonable expectation of privacy. | 720 ILCS 5/14-2 |
| Indiana | One party | Ind. Code § 35-33.5-5-5 |
| Iowa | One party | Iowa Code § 808B.2 |
| Kansas | One party | Kan. Stat. § 21-6101 |
| Kentucky | One party | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 526.010 |
| Louisiana | One party | La. Rev. Stat. § 15:1303 |
| Maine | One party | Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 15, § 710 |
| Maryland | All partiesThe person recording must also be a party to the call. | Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-402 |
| Massachusetts | All partiesAimed at secret recording; the state's highest court has said consent is not needed when everyone knows. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99 |
| Michigan | Unsettled: treat as all partiesCourts disagree on whether a participant may record without the others' consent. | Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539c |
| Minnesota | One party | Minn. Stat. § 626A.02 |
| Mississippi | One party | Miss. Code § 41-29-531 |
| Missouri | One partyIn-person conversations follow a stricter rule. | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 542.402 |
| Montana | All partiesDoes not apply when the person is warned that the call is recorded. | Mont. Code § 45-8-213 |
| Nebraska | One party | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 86-290 |
| Nevada | All partiesPhone calls only; in-person conversations are one-party. | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 200.620 |
| New Hampshire | All parties | N.H. Rev. Stat. § 570-A:2 |
| New Jersey | One party | N.J. Stat. §§ 2A:156A-3, -4 |
| New Mexico | One partyThe statute names wire and telephone lines; courts have not said how it applies to cellphones. | N.M. Stat. § 30-12-1 |
| New York | One party | N.Y. Penal Law §§ 250.00, 250.05 |
| North Carolina | One party | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-287 |
| North Dakota | One partyThe statute names wire connections; courts have not said how it applies to cellphones. | 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 partyIn-person conversations follow a separate rule. | Or. Rev. Stat. § 165.540 |
| Pennsylvania | All partiesCourts have found consent where a party knew or should have known of the recording. | 18 Pa. C.S. §§ 5703, 5704 |
| Rhode Island | One party | R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-35-21 |
| South Carolina | One party | S.C. Code § 17-30-30 |
| South Dakota | One party | S.D. Codified Laws § 23A-35A-20 |
| Tennessee | One party | Tenn. Code § 39-13-601 |
| Texas | One party | Tex. Penal Code § 16.02 |
| Utah | One party | Utah Code § 77-23a-4 |
| Vermont | One partyNo state statute; the federal one-party rule applies. | 18 U.S.C. § 2511 |
| Virginia | One party | Va. Code § 19.2-62 |
| Washington | All partiesA reasonably effective recorded announcement counts as consent. | Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.030 |
| West Virginia | One party | W. Va. Code § 62-1D-3 |
| Wisconsin | One party | Wis. Stat. § 968.31 |
| Wyoming | One party | Wyo. Stat. § 7-3-702 |
No state matches that search.
"One party" means a person who takes part in the call can record it with their own consent, the same baseline federal law sets in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d), unless the recording is for a criminal or tortious purpose. "All parties" means everyone on the call has to consent. This table is general information, not legal advice, and it does not cover every exception.
What counts as consent on a recorded line?
RCFP's guide says it is generally legal to record a conversation when the parties are warned of the recording and carry on, because consent is presumed. Some all-party states say so directly. Washington treats a reasonably effective recorded announcement as consent, Montana's law does not apply when the person is warned, and Connecticut's civil rule can be met with a recorded warning. Courts in Pennsylvania have found consent where a party knew or should have known a call was recorded, and Massachusetts courts have said its law is aimed at secret recording.
That is a pattern, not a guarantee for every state or every call. The notice has to come before the conversation you record, it has to be clear enough that a caller would actually hear it, and a caller who objects should have another way to reach you. If many of your callers speak another language, it may help to give the notice in that language too.
What if the caller is in another state?
It is not settled. RCFP notes that some courts apply the law of the state where the recording device is, and others the law of the state where the person being recorded is. Its advice is to assume the stricter state's law applies. For a property office, callers include tenants who have moved out, owners who live elsewhere, vendors and applicants, so a line that only gets local calls is rare. Planning for the all-party rule on every call is the simple way to cover that.
Does this apply to voicemail and to an answering service?
A voicemail greeting that asks the caller to leave a message already tells them it is being recorded, but saying so plainly, and saying whether messages are transcribed, removes doubt. If an answering service, call center or AI line takes calls for you, the same consent question applies to the recordings it makes. Ask the vendor what notice it gives at the start of each call, where recordings and transcripts are stored, how long they are kept and who can hear them, and put the answers in your own policy.
What should a call recording policy cover?
- The notice itself, word for word, and when it plays: before the conversation, on every line that records.
- Why you record. Name the purpose, such as an accurate record of repair requests, and keep to it.
- What happens when a caller objects. Give staff one answer and one alternative, such as email or the tenant portal.
- Who can listen, and how access is granted and removed when people leave.
- How long recordings are kept, and who deletes them. Ask your attorney before deleting anything tied to a dispute.
- Vendors. The same rules for any service that answers or records on your behalf.
- A review date. Laws change; the table above shows how far some summaries lag.
Recordings work best alongside a written log. The maintenance request form gives each call a record you can file, and the maintenance emergency list helps whoever answers decide what cannot wait until morning.
Sources
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporter's Recording Guide (state-by-state pages, each linked from the table)
- RCFP, Introduction to the Reporter's Recording Guide (consent by warning, interstate calls, federal law)
- 18 U.S.C. § 2511, Legal Information Institute (federal one-party consent, subsection (2)(d))