Utah Audio Recording Laws

Utah is a one-party consent state for audio recording under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4. Any participant in a phone call or in-person conversation can legally record it without notifying the other parties. Illegal interception by a non-participant is a third degree felony carrying up to five years in prison.

Utah is a one-party consent state for audio recording. Under the Utah Interception of Communications Act (Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4), you can legally record any phone call, in-person conversation, or electronic communication you participate in without notifying or getting permission from other participants.

How Utah's One-Party Consent Law Works

The Statutory Framework

Utah's audio recording rules are found in the Utah Interception of Communications Act (Utah Code Ann. Title 77, Chapter 23a). The key statutes are:

• Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4 establishes the criminal offense of intercepting wire, electronic, or oral communications without authorization, and also provides the one-party consent exception.
• Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-11 creates a civil cause of action for victims of illegal interception.
• Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-3 defines key terms including wire, electronic, and oral communications.

Under 77-23a-4, it is unlawful to intentionally or knowingly intercept any wire, electronic, or oral communication. However, recording is lawful when at least one party to the communication consents. That consenting party can be you.

These statutes were reviewed during Utah's 2025 criminal code recodification. The core wiretapping provisions in Chapter 23a remained substantively unchanged.

What "One-Party Consent" Means in Practice

One-party consent means exactly one person involved in the communication, typically you, must know about and agree to the recording. You do not need to announce that a call or conversation is being recorded, and you do not need anyone else's verbal or written agreement. You can also give someone else prior consent to record a conversation or meeting on your behalf, even if you are not the one operating the recorder. The specific rules for phone calls and in-person conversations are covered below.

Types of Audio Communications Covered

Wire Communications

Wire communications include telephone calls, cell phone calls, and any communication transmitted over a wire at some point. Utah's one-party consent rule covers all wire communications.

Oral Communications

Oral communications are in-person conversations where one or more parties have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Public conversations at normal volume generally carry no privacy expectation and may be recorded freely.

Recording Phone Calls in Utah

Personal Phone Calls

You can record any personal phone call you participate in. This applies to cell phones, landlines, VoIP calls (Zoom, Teams, Meet), video call audio, and messaging apps. No announcement or permission is required.

Business Phone Calls

Utah businesses can record calls for quality assurance, training, compliance, and dispute resolution. An employee on the call provides the necessary one-party consent. Many businesses announce recording as a best practice, particularly for interstate calls.

No federal regulation requires a business to announce call recording: the FCC removed its beep-tone rule in 2017, and the federal Wiretap Act's one-party rule (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)) applies. Telemarketing and robocalls are separately regulated under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Interstate Phone Calls

When you call someone in a two-party consent state, that state may apply its own law to the call, and courts disagree about which state's law governs. In Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), the California Supreme Court applied California law, going forward only, to a Georgia company that recorded calls with California clients, and applied Georgia law to damages for past calls, while the Nevada Supreme Court held that Nevada's statute does not reach a call recorded outside Nevada (Ditech Financial v. Buckles, 2017).

Thirteen states require the consent of every party: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Several of these are partial: Connecticut (phone calls, civil rule) and Nevada (phone calls) require every party's consent only for calls, Oregon only for in-person conversations and video calls, and Delaware has two conflicting statutes.

The safest approach for interstate calls: announce the recording or get consent. Our recording consent checker lets you check the other state's rule before you decide.

Recording In-Person Conversations

When Audio Recording Is Legal

You can record in-person conversations in Utah when:

• You are a direct participant
• You are in a public place where no reasonable privacy expectation exists
• One party has given you prior consent to record

When Audio Recording Is Illegal

Recording becomes illegal when:

• You are not a party and have no participant's consent
• You plant a hidden device to record a conversation you are absent from, and no participant has given prior consent
• You record a conversation in order to commit a crime or a tort

Recording in Your Own Home

You can record conversations in your own home if participating. You cannot plant recorders to capture guests' private conversations when you are not present, unless one of them has given prior consent, or record in areas where guests have privacy expectations (bathrooms, guest bedrooms).

Penalties for Illegal Audio Recording in Utah

Criminal Penalties

Civil Liability

Under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-11, the court may award victims whichever is greater: (a) actual damages plus any profits the violator made, or (b) statutory damages of $100 per day of violation or $10,000. On top of that amount, victims can also recover:

• Punitive damages in appropriate cases
• Attorney fees and litigation costs
• Injunctive relief

The statute of limitations is two years from the date the victim discovers the violation.

Good Faith Defense

Utah provides a complete defense for anyone who relied in good faith on a court order, warrant, grand jury subpoena, or other statutory authorization.

Using Audio Recordings as Evidence in Utah

Recordings made lawfully under one-party consent are generally admissible in Utah courts. Courts evaluate authentication, relevance, and hearsay rules, and a court can exclude a relevant recording only if its value as evidence is substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice or confusion (Utah R. Evid. 403). If you plan to use a recording as evidence, keep the original file unedited, note the date, time, and participants, and talk to an attorney before sharing it publicly.

Common Audio Recording Scenarios

Can I Record My Landlord?

Yes, if you are part of the conversation.

Can I Record My Doctor?

Yes, as a participant in the medical appointment.

Can I Record My Boss?

Yes, under one-party consent. Employer policies may restrict recording and violating them could lead to discipline.

Can I Record a Government Official?

Yes, in public settings and at open meetings. Under Utah's Open and Public Meetings Act (52-4-203), anyone attending an open meeting may record it as long as the recording does not interfere with the meeting, and public bodies must also record their own open meetings.

More Utah Recording Laws

Audio Recording | Video Recording | Voyeurism & Hidden Cameras | Workplace Recording | Recording Police | Phone Call Recording | Security Cameras | Recording in Public | Landlord-Tenant | Dashcam Laws | Schools | Medical Recording

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal to audio record a conversation in Utah without the other person knowing?

Yes. Utah is a one-party consent state under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4. As long as you are a participant in the conversation, you can record the audio without telling or getting permission from other parties.

Can I record a phone call in Utah?

Yes. You can record any phone call you participate in, including landline, cell phone, and VoIP calls. For calls with someone in an all-party consent state, that state may apply its own law, and courts disagree about which law governs, so the safe course is to tell everyone and get consent before recording.

What is the penalty for illegal audio recording in Utah?

Illegal interception is a third degree felony carrying up to 5 years in prison. A narrow misdemeanor alternative under 77-23a-4(10)(b) applies only to first offenses that are non-tortious, non-commercial, and involve an unencrypted radio communication: a Class A misdemeanor generally, or a Class B misdemeanor if the communication is the radio portion of a cellular, public land mobile radio, or paging service call. In a civil suit, the court may award the greater of actual damages plus the violator's profits or $100 a day or $10,000, plus attorney fees and punitive damages in appropriate cases.

Can I sue someone for recording me without consent in Utah?

Only if the recording was made illegally. Under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-11, the court may award victims of unlawful interception whichever is greater of actual damages plus the violator's profits, or statutory damages of $100 per day of violation or $10,000, plus attorney fees and punitive damages in appropriate cases. The statute of limitations is two years from discovery.

Can audio recordings be used as evidence in Utah courts?

Yes. Recordings made lawfully under one-party consent are generally admissible in both criminal and civil cases. The recording must be authenticated and relevant, and a court can exclude it only if its value as evidence is substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice or confusion.