Recording Law for Employers & Businesses in Kansas

Kansas lets you record any conversation you take part in without telling the other person. This is called one-party consent. The rule comes from Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101(a)(1), which bars intercepting a "message by telephone, telegraph, letter or other means of private communication" without the consent of either "the sender or receiver." The statute, originally enacted as K.S.A. 21-4001 and recodified as K.S.A. 21-6101 effective July 1, 2011, has been amended through 2025 (L. 2025, ch. 120, § 3, effective July 1, 2025). A Kansas Supreme Court case, State v. Roudybush, 235 Kan. 834, 686 P.2d 100 (1984), confirmed that a participant in the conversation counts as one of the people whose consent satisfies the law. So if you're part of the chat—whether in person or on the phone—you can record it without disclosing that you're doing so.

If you're capturing only video without audio in a public place—like a street, sidewalk, or the public-facing part of a police stop—Kansas law does not restrict it. The state's privacy statute, § 21-6101, focuses on intercepting audio or messages and on unlawful entry with intent to listen or observe, not silent video observation in public. Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101(a)(3) prohibits entering a private place with intent to "listen surreptitiously to private conversations" or "to observe the personal conduct" of someone entitled to privacy, but it does not apply to public spaces where no unlawful entry occurs. The statute defines a "private place" as "a place where one may reasonably expect to be safe from uninvited intrusion or surveillance," which does not include ordinary public areas. So recording a dispute or interaction in public with silent video is unrestricted.

Federal courts covering Kansas have clearly established that you have a First Amendment right to record on-duty police officers performing their official duties in public. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in Irizarry v. Yehia, 38 F.4th 1282 (10th Cir. 2022), that this right is "clearly established" and that an officer who obstructed filming of a traffic stop was not entitled to qualified immunity. Because Kansas falls within the Tenth Circuit, this ruling applies here. Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101, originally enacted as K.S.A. 21-4001 and recodified as K.S.A. 21-6101 effective July 1, 2011, has been amended through 2025 (L. 2025, ch. 120, § 3, effective July 1, 2025). So filming police in public—whether with audio or video—is protected.

Kansas does not impose a stricter rule for recording in your own home. The statute's "private place" definition does not turn on ownership—it hinges on whether someone reasonably expects to be free from uninvited intrusion or surveillance. Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101, originally enacted as K.S.A. 21-4001 and recodified as K.S.A. 21-6101 effective July 1, 2011, has been amended through 2025 (L. 2025, ch. 120, § 3, effective July 1, 2025). If you're a lawful occupant in your own home, you're one of the people "entitled to privacy therein," so your own consent satisfies the one-party rule even if others are recorded without separate consent. The only Kansas case addressing this, Froelich v. Adair, 213 Kan. 357, 516 P.2d 993 (1973), recognizes a common-law intrusion-upon-seclusion tort separate from the criminal statute, but that's a different legal issue.

If you record video inside a private place—like a home, office, or restroom—Kansas law restricts it if you're not a lawful occupant or if the recording captures someone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Under Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101(a)(3), it's unlawful to enter a private place with the intent to "listen surreptitiously to private conversations" or "to observe the personal conduct" of someone entitled to privacy. Recording with a device that captures silent video could implicate this rule only if you unlawfully enter the space with that intent. When in doubt, get consent or avoid recording. Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101, originally enacted as K.S.A. 21-4001 and recodified as K.S.A. 21-6101 effective July 1, 2011, has been amended through 2025 (L. 2025, ch. 120, § 3, effective July 1, 2025).

Imagine a retail employee wearing smartglasses is handling a heated customer dispute near the checkout counter. The employee's smartglasses record silent video of the interaction. Because the dispute happens in a public area of the store, the employee can record without disclosing it. If the employee also turns on audio recording, Kansas's one-party consent rule still allows it since the employee is part of the conversation. If the dispute moves into the store's back office—a private place—the employee should stop recording or get consent, as the law treats that differently. Kansas Statutes Annotated § 21-6101, originally enacted as K.S.A. 21-4001 and recodified as K.S.A. 21-6101 effective July 1, 2011, has been amended through 2025 (L. 2025, ch. 120, § 3, effective July 1, 2025).