Vermont Nursing Home Camera Laws: No Statute, No Wiretap Law

Vermont has no statute giving a nursing home resident or family a right to install a camera in a resident's room, and it is also the only state in this comparison with no general wiretapping or eavesdropping criminal statute at all. This article covers what fills that unusual gap, Vermont's separate voyeurism statute, and where to turn if a facility interferes with a camera.

This page addresses Vermont specifically. For the 18 states with an enacted electronic-monitoring statute, see the nursing home camera laws hub and the state-by-state comparison.

Does Vermont Have a Nursing Home Camera Law?

No. Vermont's Nursing Home Residents' Bill of Rights, 33 V.S.A. Section 7301, was read in full for this article. It guarantees confidential treatment of personal and medical records and the right to send and receive personal mail unopened, among other dignity and autonomy protections, but says nothing about electronic monitoring, cameras, or video or audio recording devices. The rest of the chapter covers grievance procedures, resident notice, penalties, readmission, and representative rights, with no monitoring content either.

A genuine full-text search of the Vermont General Assembly's own bill-search tool, run against both the 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 biennia using the phrase "nursing home camera," returned zero results in each. A broader search for "electronic monitoring" alone traced to interstate licensure compacts, data-privacy bills, and an employer-surveillance bill unrelated to nursing homes. Some generic aggregator lists that rank states by "granny cam" rights include Vermont anyway; nothing found in this review supports that, and this article treats those lists as unreliable for Vermont specifically.

Vermont's Unusual Recording Law: No Wiretap Statute at All

Vermont is the only state in this comparison, and one of the very few in the country, with no general wiretapping or eavesdropping criminal statute on the books. With no Vermont statute setting a consent baseline, federal law fills the gap for an ordinary conversation: under 18 U.S.C. Section 2511(2)(d), the federal Wiretap Act's one-party consent exception, a participant in a conversation may record it without notifying the others, losing that protection only if done for the purpose of committing a crime or a tort.

But Vermont layers two additional, state-specific protections on top of that federal baseline that do not exist in most other states. First, the Vermont Supreme Court held in State v. Geraw that a person has "a reasonable right to expect that he or she is not being secretly monitored or recorded" inside their own home, a constitutional holding developed in the context of government surveillance. Second, Vermont's criminal voyeurism statute, 13 V.S.A. Section 2605(d), makes it a crime, up to two years and a $1,000 fine for a first offense, to intentionally record a person without their knowledge and consent while they are in a place where they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy within a home or residence.

Does a Nursing Home Room Count as a "Residence"?

This is a genuinely open question. Section 2605(d) does not define "home or residence" beyond the phrase itself, and no Vermont case resolving whether an institutional nursing home room qualifies was found in this review. State v. Geraw concerned a private citizen's own kitchen table, not an institutional setting, so its reasoning could extend by analogy but is not a direct holding on nursing facilities. See our Vermont recording laws guide for more on how Vermont's unusual framework works generally.

Facility Policy Still Decides Whether a Camera Is Allowed

Because no Vermont statute grants a resident a right to a camera, the facility's admission agreement is what actually governs day to day. A facility can permit a camera, condition it on notice, or prohibit one outright as a matter of its own contract terms. Federal nursing home rules under 42 CFR 483.10 protect resident privacy and dignity broadly but say nothing about cameras, so no federal rule fills that gap either.

The Practical Risk of a Hidden Camera

A family considering a camera without the facility's knowledge should weigh Vermont's voyeurism statute carefully, since a camera capturing a roommate or staff member without their knowledge and consent risks that criminal charge if a nursing home room is treated as a "residence" under the statute, an outcome the statute's own text does not resolve. Openly disclosing a camera to the facility and any roommate, and getting written acknowledgment where possible, is the more defensible path while this question remains untested.

Using Camera Footage as Evidence of Abuse or Neglect

Footage that appears to show abuse or neglect can support a report to Adult Protective Services or the ombudsman, and it can support a civil claim, though it is typically reviewed alongside medical and staffing records rather than on its own. For a broader look at how a nursing home abuse or neglect claim works, see Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect.

Where to Turn: Vermont's Long-Term Care Ombudsman

The Vermont Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, operated under contract by Vermont Legal Aid and overseen by the state's Adult Services Division, investigates complaints affecting the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents in nursing homes and residential care. A camera dispute, a facility's refusal to discuss monitoring, or a suspected retaliation concern are all within its scope.

Information last verified on 2026-08-14, drawn from 33 V.S.A. Section 7301's complete text, 13 V.S.A. Section 2605, and a Vermont Legislature bill-database search of the 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 biennia. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer and is general legal information, not legal advice for your specific situation.

Related Resources

• Nursing Home Camera Laws by State covers every state's regime, including the 18 states with an enacted statute.
• Nursing Home Camera Laws: State-by-State Comparison breaks down the 18 states with a full statutory right.
• Vermont Recording Laws covers Vermont's unusual no-wiretap-statute framework in full.
• Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect covers how an abuse or neglect claim works once evidence, including camera footage, is in hand.
• US Recording Laws by State covers the general consent framework nationwide.

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Last updated: 2026-08-14.