Arizona

Arizona Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules

By Recording Law Editorial TeamPublished June 5, 202614 min read

Arizona is a one-party consent state for audio under ARS § 13-3005 and ARS § 13-3012(9): a party to a conversation, or any person physically present during it, may record without notice. Secretly recording someone in a private place during nudity or intimate activity is a separate Class 5 felony under ARS § 13-3019. Violating either statute exposes you to felony criminal charges and significant civil liability.

Arizona recording law at a glance

Question	Answer
Consent rule	One-party (ARS § 13-3005 + § 13-3012(9))
Main statute	ARS § 13-3005 (audio); ARS § 13-3019 (video voyeurism)
When recording is illegal	Intercepting audio you are not a party to and not present for; secretly filming someone in a private place during nudity/intimate activity, or upskirt capture
Criminal penalty (audio)	Class 5 felony; pen register is Class 6 felony
Criminal penalty (video)	Class 5 baseline; Class 6 secret view without device; Class 4 distribution where person recognizable
Civil remedy	ARS § 12-731: $100/day or $10,000 minimum, plus actual, punitive, and attorney fees (audio only)
Hidden cameras	Restricted under ARS § 13-3019 in private-expectation locations during protected acts
Recording police	Protected in public under Fordyce + Askins; 8-foot buffer law permanently enjoined

For deeper coverage of every subtopic, see the Arizona recording laws in-depth index below.

Recording in-person conversations in Arizona

therapist in three-quarter view seated on a chair with a small notebook resting on her lap taking notes, a client seated

Arizona's one-party rule comes from two statutes read together. ARS § 13-3005(A)(2) makes it a Class 5 felony to intentionally intercept a conversation "at which he is not present" without the consent of a party. The flip side is ARS § 13-3012(9), which carves out an exception for any interception "effected with the consent of a party to the communication or a person who is present during the communication."

Together these provisions mean: if you are a party to the conversation, or if you are physically present while it occurs, you may record it under Arizona law without telling anyone else. The "or a person who is present during the communication" language makes Arizona's rule broader than the federal one-party standard under 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d), which applies only to parties.

A practical example: if you walk into a kitchen and hear two roommates discussing a verbal agreement, you can pull out your phone and record the rest of the conversation under ARS § 13-3012(9), even though you were not originally part of it and neither roommate consents. That same logic does not apply if you record from the next room with a listening device: you are not "present," and (A)(2) applies.

The "oral communication" definition in ARS § 13-3001 requires a reasonable expectation of privacy (a Katz-style test). A conversation shouted across a busy sidewalk may not qualify as an "oral communication" at all, putting it outside ARS § 13-3005's reach entirely.

Recording phone calls in Arizona

ARS § 13-3005(A)(1) covers wire and electronic communications: intentional interception of a call "to which he is not a party" without consent of sender or receiver is a Class 5 felony. As a party to your own calls, you may record under the ARS § 13-3012(9) exception without notice.

The complication is interstate calls. When the other party is in a stricter all-party-consent state (California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, or Washington), the conservative posture is to comply with the stricter state and obtain on-record consent before recording. Arizona courts apply Arizona law to Arizona residents; the other state's courts may apply their own rule to their residents.

Businesses recording Arizona calls for quality assurance or compliance are parties to those calls and may record under ARS § 13-3005. Best practice is a recorded preamble noting that the call may be recorded, because many callers connect from all-party states. Federal CFPB Regulation F and FCC TCPA rules layer on separately for debt-collection and telemarketing contexts.

For the complete guide to phone recording, see Arizona Phone Call Recording Laws.

Hidden cameras, doorbells, and nanny cams

a delivery driver in a uniform standing at a front door step holding a small cardboard package, captured from a low door

Hidden-camera questions run through ARS § 13-3019, Arizona's voyeurism statute. The statute creates two separate prongs.

Subsection (A)(1): private place plus protected act. It is unlawful to secretly photograph, videotape, film, or digitally record another person in a restroom, bathroom, locker room, bedroom, or any other location where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, while the person is urinating, defecating, dressing, undressing, nude, or engaged in sexual contact or intercourse. Both elements must be present: the location and the act.

Subsection (A)(2): upskirt and hidden-angle capture. No private place is required. Capture of another person's genitalia, buttock, or female breast (whether clothed or unclothed) that is not otherwise visible to the public is prohibited regardless of where it occurs.

Subsection (B): distribution. Disclosing, displaying, distributing, or publishing a recording made in violation of (A) without the depicted person's consent is a separate offense. Where the depicted person is recognizable, distribution is a Class 4 felony, the most serious classification in the statute.

Subsection (C) exemptions. Four categories are carved out: security recordings where notice is clearly posted in the location and the purpose is security; correctional officials recording for security reasons or in connection with the investigation of alleged misconduct of persons on the premises of a jail or prison; law-enforcement recordings during lawful investigations; and child monitoring devices (as defined in ARS § 13-3001) used by a parent or guardian inside the home. The posted-notice exemption requires both elements; an unlabeled bathroom camera with a retroactive security rationale does not qualify.

A few common scenarios: an outward-facing doorbell camera on your own porch is generally outside ARS § 13-3019 (a public-facing porch is not a private place and visitors are not in a protected act). A nanny cam in a shared kitchen or family room is similarly outside the statute. A camera installed in a tenant's bathroom or a guest bedroom without consent is a Class 5 felony. A parent's nursery cam in their child's own bedroom fits within the child-monitoring-device exemption.

Audio captured by any camera is analyzed separately under ARS § 13-3005 with the one-party consent rule.

For more on this topic, see Arizona Video Recording Laws, Arizona Security Camera Laws, and Arizona Voyeurism and Hidden Camera Laws.

Penalties for illegal recording in Arizona

two business professionals shaking hands across a small meeting table, both in three-quarter view, a printed paper agend

Criminal sentences run through ARS § 13-702, the presumptive sentencing schedule for non-dangerous felonies committed by first-time offenders.

Conduct	Class	Presumptive	Aggravated
Audio interception, ARS § 13-3005(A)(1)-(2)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
Jury deliberations, ARS § 13-3005(A)(3)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
Pen register / trap-and-trace, ARS § 13-3005(B)	Class 6 felony	1 year	2 years
Capture in private place or upskirt, ARS § 13-3019(A)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
Distribution where person recognizable, ARS § 13-3019(B)	Class 4 felony	2.5 years	3.75 years
Distribution where person not recognizable, ARS § 13-3019(B)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
Secret viewing without a device, ARS § 13-3019(E)	Class 6 felony	1 year	2 years
Secret viewing without a device (second offense), ARS § 13-3019(E)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
NCII, ARS § 13-1425 (standard)	Class 5 felony	1.5 years	2.5 years
NCII, ARS § 13-1425 (electronic disclosure)	Class 4 felony	2.5 years	3.75 years

First-time non-dangerous offenders are generally probation eligible. Repeat offenders face significant enhancements under ARS § 13-703.

Civil remedy for audio violations (ARS § 12-731). ARS § 12-731 creates a private right of action for violations of ARS § 13-3005. A plaintiff may recover the greater of actual damages plus the violator's profits, or $100 per day of violation, or $10,000, whichever is greater. Punitive damages are available in appropriate cases. Reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs are recoverable. The limitations period is one year from when the plaintiff first had a reasonable opportunity to discover the violation.

Civil remedy for video violations. ARS § 12-731 does not cover ARS § 13-3019 violations. Surreptitious-video plaintiffs rely on common-law intrusion upon seclusion, established by Hart v. Seven Resorts, Inc., 190 Ariz. 272 (App. 1997), and Godbehere v. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., 162 Ariz. 335 (1989). Punitive damages require clear-and-convincing evidence of an "evil mind" under Linthicum v. Nationwide Life Insurance Co., 150 Ariz. 326 (1986). The limitations period is two years under ARS § 12-542. Where the material is intimate imagery disclosed with intent to harm, ARS § 13-1425 adds criminal and civil exposure.

Recording the police in Arizona

reporter in three-quarter view holding a small handheld microphone toward a person speaking at a podium, both visible fr

Arizona is in the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit recognized a First Amendment interest in recording police performing public duties in Fordyce v. City of Seattle, 55 F.3d 436 (9th Cir. 1995), and reaffirmed the right to photograph and record matters of public interest in public places (including law enforcement) in Askins v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 899 F.3d 1035 (9th Cir. 2018). These remain the controlling authorities for Arizona.

Reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions still apply. Officers may lawfully order bystanders to step back to a reasonable distance and may enforce trespass and obstruction laws of general applicability. What officers cannot do is forbid recording itself or arrest someone solely for recording.

HB 2319 / ARS § 13-3732 permanently enjoined. Arizona passed HB 2319 in 2022 making it a Class 3 misdemeanor to record law enforcement within 8 feet after a verbal warning. A federal court entered a preliminary injunction before the law took effect. The court entered a permanent injunction and declaratory judgment in Arizona Broadcasters Association v. Mayes, No. 2:22-cv-01431-JJT (D. Ariz. July 21, 2023), finding that HB 2319 / ARS § 13-3732 violated the First Amendment as a content-based restriction on newsgathering that failed strict scrutiny. ARS § 13-3732 remains on the books but is unenforceable under the binding court order.

Body-worn cameras. Arizona's peace-officer body-camera framework was enacted by SB 1386 (2022) and is codified at ARS § 38-1171 (definitions) and ARS § 38-1172 (operational requirements and AZ POST consequences for tampering or non-activation). State-agency video disclosure, redaction, and fee rules are governed by ARS § 41-1734.

For detailed coverage, see Arizona Laws on Recording Police.

Special topics in Arizona

Deepfakes and AI impersonation

Arizona enacted two AI deepfake laws in 2024. HB 2394 (ARS § 16-1023), signed May 21, 2024, creates a civil cause of action for digital impersonation: any Arizona citizen may sue a publisher of a digital impersonation published without consent and without a clear disclosure, with a 21-day cure window, expedited injunctive relief for candidates or intimate depictions, and a two-year limitations period. SB 1359, signed May 29, 2024, requires clear and conspicuous AI disclosure on deepfakes of ballot candidates within 90 days of an election, with a $10/day then $25/day civil penalty. SB 1078 (AI criminal-impersonation amendment to ARS § 13-2006) failed to pass and is not enacted.

Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII)

ARS § 13-1425 makes it a Class 5 felony (Class 4 for electronic disclosure) to intentionally disclose an identifiable intimate image of another person without consent and with intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce. The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (Pub. L. 119-12, signed May 19, 2025) adds federal criminal liability for knowing publication of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions including AI-generated forgeries; platform notice-and-takedown compliance took effect May 19, 2026.

Workplace recording and NLRB overlay

Arizona employers who are parties to workplace conversations may record under ARS § 13-3005 one-party consent. Blanket no-recording handbook policies are presumptively unlawful for private-sector NLRA-covered employers under Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023), unless the employer shows a substantial, narrowly tailored business interest. NLRB GC 25-05 (Feb. 14, 2025) reinstated Boeing-era enforcement priorities but Stericycle remains binding Board precedent. NLRB GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025) separately treats surreptitious recording of collective-bargaining sessions as a per se violation: this is narrow prosecutorial guidance confined to formal bargaining sessions, not a broader workplace-recording rule. Arizona's right-to-work status under Ariz. Const. art. XXV does not affect NLRA Section 7 analysis.

Federal ECPA and FCC overlay

The federal Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2522, sets a one-party-consent floor under 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d); Arizona's ARS § 13-3005 follows it. FCC Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17 (Feb. 2024) treats AI-generated voice in calls as "artificial or prerecorded voice" under the TCPA and is in force. FCC 24-24 (One-to-One Consent Rule) was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit with mandate April 30, 2025, and is not in force.

Open meetings and public records

Arizona's Open Meeting Law, ARS § 38-431.01, guarantees public access to meetings of state and local public bodies. Attendees may record open meetings subject to reasonable rules of decorum. Arizona trial courts permit cameras under Arizona Supreme Court Rule 122 subject to advance application. Federal courts in Arizona generally bar cameras during proceedings.

Recent legal developments

May 2024: HB 2394 (ARS § 16-1023) enacted, creating a civil deepfake-impersonation action with a 21-day cure window.
May 2024: SB 1359 enacted, requiring AI disclosure on election deepfakes within 90 days of a ballot; $10/day rising to $25/day civil penalty.
July 2023: Arizona Broadcasters Ass'n v. Mayes, D. Ariz., entered permanent injunction and declaratory judgment finding ARS § 13-3732 (HB 2319 8-foot police buffer) violates the First Amendment as a content-based restriction that failed strict scrutiny. Unenforceable.
May 2025: TAKE IT DOWN Act signed federally (Pub. L. 119-12); platform notice-and-takedown compliance effective May 19, 2026.
April 2025: FCC 24-24 One-to-One Consent Rule vacated by 11th Circuit; FCC removed rule by order DA 25-621.
August 2023: NLRB Stericycle decision makes blanket no-recording workplace rules presumptively unlawful for NLRA-covered employers.

Arizona recording laws in depth

By type of recording

Arizona Audio Recording Laws (ARS § 13-3005 consent rules in depth)
Arizona Video Recording Laws (ARS § 13-3019 and when cameras are permitted)
Arizona Phone Call Recording Laws (landline, cell, VoIP, and interstate calls)
Arizona Dashcam Laws (vehicles, rideshare, and cabin audio)

By place or relationship

Arizona Workplace Recording Laws (employee and employer rights, NLRB overlay)
Arizona Landlord-Tenant Recording Laws (tenant privacy and landlord camera rules)
Arizona School Recording Laws (students, parents, and teachers)
Arizona Medical Recording Laws (patient rights and HIPAA)
Arizona Laws on Recording Police (First Amendment, HB 2319, body cams)
Arizona Laws on Recording in Public (streets, government buildings, courts)
Arizona Security Camera Laws (homes, businesses, and ARS § 13-3019 exemptions)
Arizona Voyeurism and Hidden Camera Laws (ARS § 13-3019 in detail)

More Arizona laws

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Recording laws change and apply differently to each situation. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed Arizona attorney.

More Arizona Laws

Sources and References

ARS 13-3005; ARS 13-3012(9)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3019(A)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3005; ARS 13-3019(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3005(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3001(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3012(9)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3019(A), (B), (E)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3019(C)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 12-731(azleg.gov).gov
Hart v. Seven Resorts Inc., 190 Ariz. 272 (App. 1997); Godbehere v. Phoenix Newspapers, 162 Ariz. 335 (1989); Linthicum v. Nationwide Life Ins., 150 Ariz. 326 (1986)
ARS 13-702(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-1425(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3019(A); ARS 13-3005(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3005; CA Penal Code 632; FL Stat. 934.03; 720 ILCS 5/14-2; 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)(azleg.gov).gov
ARS 13-3019(A), (C); ARS 13-3005(azleg.gov).gov
FTC v. Ring (2023); 15 U.S.C. 45 (FTC Act 5)(ftc.gov).gov
Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023); ARS 13-3005; ARS 13-3019; Ariz. Const. art. XXV(nlrb.gov).gov
NLRB GC 25-05 (Feb. 14, 2025); NLRB GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025)(nlrb.gov).gov
Fordyce v. City of Seattle, 55 F.3d 436 (9th Cir. 1995); Askins v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 899 F.3d 1035 (9th Cir. 2018)(ca9.uscourts.gov).gov
Arizona Broadcasters Ass'n v. Mayes, No. 2:22-cv-01431-JJT (D. Ariz. July 21, 2023) (Tuchi, J.)(clearinghouse.net)
ARS 38-1171; ARS 38-1172; ARS 41-1734(azleg.gov).gov
18 U.S.C. 2510-2522; 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d); DOJ Justice Manual 9-7.302(uscode.house.gov).gov
FCC 24-17 Declaratory Ruling (Feb. 2024); 47 U.S.C. 227(fcc.gov).gov
Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC, No. 24-10277 (11th Cir. mandate Apr. 30, 2025); 47 C.F.R. 64.1200(f)(9); 47 C.F.R. 64.501 (removed)(media.ca11.uscourts.gov).gov
ARS 16-1023 (HB 2394, 56th Leg., 2nd Reg. Sess., 2024)(azleg.gov).gov
Arizona SB 1359 (56th Leg., 2nd Reg. Sess., 2024); Arizona SB 1078 (failed)(azleg.gov).gov
TAKE IT DOWN Act, S. 146, 119th Cong., Pub. L. 119-12(congress.gov).gov
47 U.S.C. 1001-1010 (CALEA); 45 C.F.R. Part 164 (HIPAA); 12 C.F.R. 1006.6 (Reg F)(uscode.house.gov).gov
azleg.gov.gov
azleg.gov.gov
azleg.gov.gov
azleg.gov.gov
azleg.gov.gov
azleg.gov.gov
uscode.house.gov.gov
justice.gov.gov