Texas Call Recording Laws: One-Party Consent

Texas is a one-party consent state: you may record a phone call or conversation you are part of, and a non-participant may record with a participant's prior consent, unless that recording is made to commit an unlawful act. Intercepting a call without any party's consent is generally a second-degree felony, and civil damages are $10,000 for each occurrence.

For Texas businesses, recording your own calls is lawful. Texas's civil remedy, though, makes unauthorized monitoring especially expensive.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Texas recording law at a glance

Question	Answer in Texas
Consent rule	One party
Main statute	Texas Penal Code § 16.02
How consent works	Affirmative defense in § 16.02(c)(4)
Criminal penalty	Generally a felony of the second degree (§ 16.02(f))
Civil damages	$10,000 per occurrence, plus actual damages above that, punitive damages and fees (CPRC § 123.004)
Texts and email	Covered

What the statute says

Texas Penal Code § 16.02(b) makes it an offense to intentionally intercept, or try or procure someone else to intercept, a wire, oral or electronic communication; to disclose or use the contents knowing they were illegally intercepted; and related conduct. Definitions come from Article 18A.001 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Consent works as an affirmative defense. Section 16.02(c)(4) says it is a defense if:

"a person not acting under color of law intercepts a wire, oral, or electronic communication, if: (A) the person is a party to the communication; or (B) one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception, unless the communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing an unlawful act"

A participant versus a consenting third party

The structure is worth noticing. Paragraph (A), the participant's own recording, has no purpose limit in the Texas text. Paragraph (B), a non-participant recording with a participant's consent, is unavailable if the purpose is to commit an unlawful act. Federal law still limits both: 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) excludes recordings made for criminal or tortious purposes.

Why "affirmative defense" matters

In most states, a participant's recording simply falls outside the crime. Texas frames consent as an affirmative defense to prosecution. In practice the result is similar, because the defense is complete when it applies. But it means the person relying on it may need to show the facts that support it: that they were a party, or that a party consented in advance. For a business, that is an argument for keeping evidence of consent, such as a recorded notice at the start of each call and a signed employee policy, rather than relying on memory about who agreed to what.

In-person conversations

Texas protects oral communications uttered by a person "exhibiting an expectation that the communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying that expectation," according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP). A participant may record. Public conversations generally are not protected.

Cellphones, texts and email

The definitions in Article 18A.001 cover wire communications and the "transfer of any signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence," which reaches texts and email. The RCFP notes that in Wesley v. State (Tex. App. 2016), a court treated a cellphone call as lawfully recorded because one party consented.

Penalties

Violation	Statute	Classification
Unlawful interception, use or disclosure	§ 16.02(f)	Felony of the second degree, except as noted
Offenses under § 16.02(d) or (g)	§ 16.02(f)	State jail felony
Invasive visual recording	§ 21.15	Felony

A second-degree felony in Texas carries two to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 under Penal Code § 12.33.

Civil liability

Chapter 123 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code creates a civil action for interception. Under § 123.004, a person who establishes a claim is entitled to:

1. an injunction against further interception or disclosure;
2. statutory damages of $10,000 for each occurrence;
3. all actual damages in excess of $10,000;
4. punitive damages; and
5. reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

"For each occurrence" matters. A business that records many calls unlawfully can face a separate $10,000 claim for each.

Calls between Texas and neighboring states

Neighbor	Rule for phone calls
New Mexico	One-party
Oklahoma	One-party
Arkansas	One-party
Louisiana	One-party

Texas's neighbors are one-party, but its economy reaches every state. Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio companies serve customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington daily. Read interstate call recording consent and see the state-by-state table.

Three Texas scenarios

A Houston energy trading desk records calls with counterparties. Traders are parties, so § 16.02(c)(4)(A) applies. Counterparties in California or Illinois hear a notice too.

A Dallas business owner installs software on the company phone system to secretly capture calls between two employees and customers. The owner is not a party and has no participant's consent. That is a felony and a potential $10,000 claim for each occurrence.

An Austin startup records customer discovery calls for product research. Lawful under Texas law, since the interviewer is a party. Many interviewees are in California, so the startup asks for consent at the start.

What this means for Texas businesses

Energy and finance

Many trading and finance firms record calls under regulatory requirements. Build an announcement into recorded lines so out-of-state counterparties are covered.

Home services and construction

Recorded calls settle scope and price disputes. Use a phone system that announces recording rather than silent cellphone apps.

Employees

Document employee consent in a signed policy before monitoring. Given the $10,000 per-occurrence remedy, keep monitoring to business lines.

Recordings as evidence

Texas businesses often record to protect themselves in disputes. A recording made by a participant under § 16.02(c)(4)(A) is not an unlawful interception and can be offered as evidence subject to the usual rules. A recording made by intercepting calls your business was not part of creates the opposite problem: criminal exposure, a $10,000-per-occurrence civil claim, and a likely fight over whether the recording can be used at all. Record calls your staff take part in, and keep the originals intact.

Texas recording checklist

• Recording notice at the start of recorded inbound calls
• Spoken notice on outbound recorded calls
• Signed employee recording and monitoring policy
• No interception of calls, texts or email you are not party to
• Recordings made for legitimate business purposes only
• Callers who object are not recorded
• Access controls and retention schedule

Wording is in call recording disclosure scripts.

Recording calls in Texas with Callata

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