Texas wiretapping law lives in Penal Code Section 16.02, and it makes intercepting, disclosing, or using someone’s private wire, oral, or electronic communications without authorization a second-degree felony punishable by two to twenty years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications Texas is a one-party consent state, so you can legally record a conversation you’re part of. Recording other people’s private exchanges without their knowledge is the felony.
When You Can Legally Record a Conversation
If you are an active participant in the conversation, you can record it without telling anyone else. If one of the participants gives you permission in advance, you can record it even if you aren’t personally in the call. Both situations are recognized as affirmative defenses in the statute for people not acting under color of law.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
One catch gets left out of most summaries. The one-party consent defense disappears if the recording is made “for the purpose of committing an unlawful act.” Keeping a personal record of your own phone call is fine. Recording that same call to collect material for blackmail or extortion is not, even though you were a party to it.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
One-party consent does not cover eavesdropping. If two coworkers are talking in a conference room and you slip a recording device under the table, that is a felony no matter why you did it. You are not a party, and no party gave consent.
What Section 16.02 Prohibits
The statute treats five different acts as separate offenses. The core violation is intentionally capturing the contents of a wire, oral, or electronic communication with a recording or listening device. On top of that, intentionally sharing material you know was illegally intercepted is its own offense, and intentionally using the contents of an illegally intercepted communication is a third, with a slightly broader standard that reaches recklessness about how the material was obtained.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
Two more acts round out the list. Knowingly entering a location to plant a listening device without a court order is a separate crime, covering the physical intrusion rather than the recording itself. Attaching an interception device to a communication line, or using a device that transmits over or interferes with radio communications in order to pick up oral communications, is the fifth.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
Because each act is counted separately, someone who records a conversation, keeps the file, and then forwards it to a third party has committed at least two violations.
What Counts as a Protected Communication
Section 16.02 pulls its definitions from Article 18A.001 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Wire communication covers voice sent through a physical wire or cable, which is how traditional landline calls are routed. Electronic communication is a broad category that reaches texts, emails, and data moved over radio, electromagnetic, or optical systems, but it excludes wire and oral communications, tone-only pagers, and tracking device signals.2State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 18A.001 – Definitions
Oral communication is the category that produces most real-world disputes. The statute protects spoken words uttered by someone with a reasonable expectation that no one is listening in, “under circumstances justifying that expectation.” A whispered conversation behind a closed office door qualifies. Shouting across a parking lot probably does not.2State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 18A.001 – Definitions
There is no bright-line rule. Context drives the analysis. A phone call taken on speaker in a crowded coffee shop is harder to defend as private than the same call taken in a closed room with thin walls. The safer assumption is that any conversation where the participants have taken steps to keep it private is protected.
Criminal Penalties
A standard Section 16.02 violation is a second-degree felony. The sentencing range is two to twenty years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, with a possible fine up to $10,000.3State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.33 – Second Degree Felony Punishment
Offenses that fall under subsections (d) or (g) of the statute are state jail felonies instead. Those carry 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and a fine up to $10,000.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 16.02 – Unlawful Interception, Use, or Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
Each interception, disclosure, or use is counted on its own. Record ten calls without authorization and you face ten potential charges. A felony conviction also brings the standard collateral consequences in Texas: loss of firearm rights, employment barriers, and restrictions on professional licensing.
Civil Lawsuits by the Victim
A criminal case is not the only consequence. Article 18A.502 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives anyone whose communication was illegally intercepted, disclosed, or used a private right to sue the person responsible.4State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 18A.502
The damages a victim can recover include actual damages, with a guaranteed floor of $100 per day the violation continued or $1,000 total, whichever is greater. A court can add punitive damages for particularly egregious conduct. The statute also allows recovery of reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation costs, which lowers the practical barrier to filing suit.4State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 18A.502
The civil case stands on its own. A victim can file suit whether or not the district attorney brings charges. Prosecutors sometimes decline wiretapping cases that involve borderline facts, but those same facts can still support a civil claim under the lower burden of proof.
Situations That Commonly Cross the Line
Most people who violate Section 16.02 are not professional spies. They are suspicious spouses recording a partner’s phone calls with other people, employers who secretly monitor personal conversations at work, or parents who install a recording app on a child’s device to capture conversations they aren’t part of. The usual mistake is assuming that a good reason to listen justifies the interception. It doesn’t.
Recording your own calls with your spouse is legal. Installing spyware on your spouse’s phone to capture their calls with other people is not, because you are not a party to those calls. A landlord hiding a recording device in a tenant’s apartment is in the same position. So is anyone who leaves a recorder running in a room they then walk out of while others keep talking.
Interstate Calls and Federal Law
Section 16.02 runs alongside the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Both follow one-party consent, so a recording legal under Texas law won’t violate federal law on consent grounds. But some other states require every party to agree. If you record a call with someone in a two-party consent state, you can comply with Texas law and still break theirs. For interstate calls, following the stricter state’s rules is the safer approach.
The federal civil remedy under the Wiretap Act provides statutory damages of $100 per day of violation or $10,000, whichever is greater, which is a more generous floor than the Texas minimum. Victims of interstate wiretapping sometimes have reason to pursue claims under both state and federal law.