Recording Law for Recording at Home in Missouri

Missouri lets you record phone calls and other electronic communications if you are part of the conversation. This is written in Missouri’s wiretapping law at § 542.402.2(3): a person who is not acting under law may intercept a wire communication where such person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent. The statute defines a “wire communication” as any communication made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception. In plain terms, if you are on the call, you can record it without telling the other person. This rule applies whether you are in your own home or calling from anywhere else in the state.

Missouri’s wiretapping law criminalizes intercepting an oral (in-person) communication only when the device “transmits communications by radio or interferes with the transmission of such communication.” That language is taken verbatim from § 542.402.1(2). A standard digital recorder, smartphone, or wearable device that simply stores audio locally does not transmit by radio or interfere with transmission, so using one to record an in-person conversation is not clearly a crime under this statute. There is no separate one-party consent exception for oral communications written for private citizens; the one-party consent language in § 542.402.2(3) applies only to wire communications. The practical effect is that ordinary in-person recording with a non-radio device is not clearly criminalized by Missouri’s wiretapping law.

Missouri does not treat recording inside a home differently from recording anywhere else. The statute’s definition of “intercept” at § 542.400 expressly states it includes “but is not limited to interception by one spouse of another spouse,” which shows the legislature affirmatively closed off any implied spousal or domestic exemption. In other words, recording conversations between spouses or household members is subject to the same rules as any other in-person recording under the statute. There is no carve-out making home recording either more permissive or stricter than recording elsewhere.

Missouri’s wiretapping statute at § 542.400 defines “intercept” as “the aural acquisition of the contents of any wire communication through the use of any electronic or mechanical device.” Because interception is tied to aural (audio) acquisition, a silent video-only recording with no audio component does not constitute an interception of a wire communication and falls outside the wiretapping law entirely. Separately, Missouri’s invasion-of-privacy statute at § 565.252 criminalizes photographing or filming another person’s nudity or under clothing without consent in a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. That statute is narrow and would not apply to filming a public dispute or interpersonal confrontation where no nudity is involved.

Imagine you are in your kitchen when a heated argument breaks out between two adults in the household. You start your phone’s voice recorder and leave it on the counter. Under Missouri’s wiretapping law at § 542.402.1(2), this recording is not clearly criminal because the device does not transmit by radio or interfere with transmission, and the statute at § 542.400 does not create a special exemption for conversations inside a home. The same would be true if you recorded the same argument in a public park or at a neighbor’s house; Missouri does not single out home recordings for different treatment.

Missouri’s wiretapping law at § 542.418 gives a private right of action to any person whose wire or oral communication was intercepted in violation of the statute. If a court finds a violation, the person can recover the greater of $100 per day of violation or $10,000, plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Because the statute’s reach over ordinary in-person recordings is narrow, lawsuits over such recordings are not common.