Is It Illegal to Record Someone in Arizona? ARS 13-3019
Charged over a recording? Arizona is one-party consent for audio, but under A.R.S. § 13-3019 secret recording in a private situation is a Class 5 felony, and sharing it a Class 4 — with sex-offense stakes. Call before any interview.
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Is It Illegal to Record Someone in Arizona?
It depends. Arizona is a one-party consent state, recording a conversation you are part of is lawful under A.R.S. §§ 13-3005 and 13-3012. But secretly photographing, filming, or viewing a person where they expect privacy, in a bathroom, bedroom, or locker room, or capturing private body areas, is a Class 5 felony under A.R.S. § 13-3019, and disclosing such a recording is a Class 4 felony.
It depends entirely on what you record. Arizona is a one-party consent state for conversations: under A.R.S. § 13-3005 and the exemptions in § 13-3012(9), recording a conversation is lawful if you are a party to it or a party consents. But visual recording is governed by a much stricter statute: A.R.S. § 13-3019 makes it a felony to secretly photograph, film, or record a person — with or without a device — in places and situations where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Audio: The One-Party Consent Rule
Intercepting a conversation you are not part of, without any party’s consent, is a Class 5 felony under 13-3005 — that is the wiretapping scenario: bugging a room, recording your ex’s phone calls, planting a recorder. But if you are a participant in the conversation, or one participant consents, the recording is exempt under 13-3012(9). That is why people may lawfully record their own phone calls and meetings in Arizona — and why secretly recording other people’s conversations is a felony.
Visual: Where Recording Becomes a Sex-Crime-Adjacent Felony
Section 13-3019 prohibits knowingly and secretly photographing, videotaping, filming, digitally recording, or even viewing another person without consent in two situations:
- In a restroom, bathroom, locker room, bedroom, or other place with a reasonable expectation of privacy, while the person is urinating, defecating, dressing, undressing, nude, or engaged in sexual activity; or
- In a manner that captures the person’s genitalia, buttock, or female breast (clothed or unclothed) that is not otherwise visible to the public — the “upskirt” provision.
The classification ladder is steep:
- Class 5 felony — the standard violation with a device;
- Class 6 felony — a violation without a device (a second offense returns to Class 5); and
- Class 4 felony — disclosing or publishing such a recording when the person depicted is recognizable.
Note that disclosure is its own crime: forwarding or posting a recording made in violation of the statute is separately punishable — and more severely than making it.
The Neighboring Statutes
Prosecutors choose between several overlapping laws in recording cases: voyeurism under A.R.S. § 13-1424 (surveilling for sexual gratification), unlawful disclosure of intimate images under § 13-1425 (“revenge porn”), and 13-3019. Which statute is charged changes the felony class, the registration exposure, and the available defenses — and it is frequently negotiable. See our guides to voyeurism defense and sextortion under 13-1428.
How Is Voyeurism Different From Surreptitious Recording?
Both statutes cover recording someone without consent, and prosecutors frequently charge them together, but they are different offenses with different elements and different consequences. The single biggest difference is purpose: voyeurism requires the State to prove a sexual motive, and surreptitious recording does not.
| Voyeurism — § 13-1424 | Surreptitious recording — § 13-3019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual purpose | Required. The invasion of privacy must be “for the purpose of sexual stimulation” | Not an element. Motive is irrelevant to guilt |
| Reach | Invading privacy where there is a reasonable expectation, while the person is undressed, in sexual contact, or urinating or defecating | The same situations, plus capturing genitalia, buttock or breast “whether clothed or unclothed” that is not otherwise visible to the public |
| Class | Class 5 felony; class 4 if distributed and the person depicted is recognizable | Class 5 felony; class 6 if no device was used; class 4 if distributed and recognizable |
| Where it sits in the code | Chapter 14, Sexual Offenses | Chapter 30, Eavesdropping and Communications |
| Sex offender registration | Not mandatory, but the sentencing judge may order it for any chapter 14 offense under § 13-3821(C) | Only if the State pleads and proves a sexual motivation special allegation under § 13-118 |
The chapter each statute sits in is not a technicality. Neither offense appears in the mandatory registration list at § 13-3821(A). But because voyeurism is a chapter 14 offense, a judge already has discretion to order registration at sentencing. For a § 13-3019 conviction the State has to plead a § 13-118 sexual motivation allegation and prove it beyond a reasonable doubt before the judge has that power at all. That is why defeating the allegation is often worth more than fighting the recording itself.
More on each: surreptitious recording defense under § 13-3019 and whether voyeurism is a felony in Arizona.
Defenses
- No reasonable expectation of privacy — public places, visible-to-the-public settings, and posted-security contexts fall outside the statute;
- Consent — actual or reasonably understood, particularly between partners;
- Not secret — open, known recording is not “surreptitious”;
- Identity and attribution — who actually made or shared the file;
- Statutory exemptions — posted security systems, law enforcement, child monitoring.
The Experts We Bring to the Table
Recording cases are decided by privacy expectations, consent evidence, and device forensics. We bring the specialists on all three.
Digital Forensics Specialists
Files, Devices & Metadata
Establish when recordings were made, on what device, by whom, and who actually shared them.
Privacy-Expectation Analysts
Where the Line Sits
Analyze the location, visibility, and posted-notice facts that decide whether an expectation of privacy existed.
Relationship-Context Investigators
The Consent Record
Document the communications and history that show recording was known, consented to, or reasonably understood.
Search-and-Seizure Analysts
How Police Got the Files
Challenge the phone searches and warrants that produce the evidence in nearly every one of these cases.
Charging-Statute Analysts
3019 vs. 1424 vs. 1425
Map which of the overlapping statutes actually fits, and fight the one with registration exposure.
Mitigation Specialists
Containing the Damage
Manage deletion, disclosure prevention, and resolutions that protect clients from sex-offense consequences.
How Tamou Law Group Defends Recording Cases
These prosecutions carry sex-offense stakes, so we defend them at every layer: the phone search that produced the files, the privacy-expectation and consent elements, the attribution question of who actually recorded or shared, and the charging choice among 13-3019, voyeurism, and the intimate-image statutes. The right statute, or none, is often the whole fight.
Related reading: voyeurism defense (13-1424), was the search of your phone legal?, and our Scottsdale sex crimes lawyer page. Call 623-321-4699, 24/7.
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When you are looking for the best Phoenix sex crime lawyers, these are the independently verified credentials that matter, earned by Founding Attorney Michael Tamou and a full team of attorneys, including former prosecutors, public defenders, and law enforcement.
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Why Tamou Law Group for Sex Crime Charges
A sex-crime allegation is usually one account against another, and the State files first and investigates second. We treat these cases as evidence cases from day one: digital records, forensic interviews, timelines and the gaps between them.
A dismissal on the hardest charge
Our published results include a sexual assault and sexual abuse case dismissed after extensive litigation, and reductions on luring, sexual conduct with a minor, molestation and sexual exploitation charges. These are the cases most firms plead early.
Former prosecutors who charged these cases
Attorneys on our team have worked inside the offices that file sex-crime charges in Arizona. They know how forensic interviews are scored, what a detective needs before a confrontation call, and which weaknesses the State hopes you never notice.
Pre-charge defense
Sex-crime cases often begin with a detective’s call, before any charge exists. That window is where a case is declined, downgraded or filed as alleged, and we have handled that stage from both sides of the table.
Published results in this area
| Case | Charges | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| State v. W.N. | Sexual assault and sexual abuse (A.R.S. 13-1406, 13-1404) | Case dismissed |
| State v. P.J. | Sexual abuse and indecent exposure (13-1404, 13-1402) | Reduced charge |
| State v. N.D. | Luring a minor and attempt (13-3554, 13-1001) | Reduced charge |
| State v. L.B. | Sexual conduct with a minor and attempt (13-1405, 13-1001) | Reduced charge |
| State v. H.V. | Molestation of a child and sexual abuse (13-1410, 13-1404) | Reduced charge |
| State v. V.R. | Sexual exploitation of a minor (13-3553) | Reduced charge |
| State v. G.D. | Indecent exposure and disorderly conduct (13-1402, 13-2904) | Deferred prosecution |
Anonymized outcomes from our case results page. Every case is different; past results do not guarantee a future outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Arizona a one-party consent state for recording?
Yes, for audio. Under A.R.S. 13-3005 and the exemption in 13-3012(9), recording a conversation is lawful if you are a party to it or any party consents. Intercepting other people’s conversations without consent is a Class 5 felony.
Can I legally record a phone call I am part of in Arizona?
Yes. As a party to the call, your own consent satisfies Arizona’s one-party consent rule. Be careful with interstate calls, some states require all parties to consent, and recording a call with someone in such a state can create exposure there.
What is ARS 13-3019?
Arizona’s surreptitious recording statute. It makes it a felony to secretly photograph, film, digitally record, or even view a person without consent in a bathroom, bedroom, locker room, or similar private situation, or to capture private body areas not visible to the public.
What class of felony is secret recording in Arizona?
A Class 5 felony when a device is used, a Class 6 felony for secret viewing without a device (Class 5 on a second offense), and a Class 4 felony for disclosing or publishing such a recording when the person depicted is recognizable.
Is sharing an intimate recording a crime in Arizona?
Yes, twice over. Disclosing a recording made in violation of 13-3019 is a Class 4 felony if the person is recognizable, and unlawful disclosure of intimate images under A.R.S. 13-1425 (the revenge porn law) can apply even to recordings originally made with consent.
Can I record someone in my own house in Arizona?
Not in private situations. The statute turns on the recorded person’s reasonable expectation of privacy, not property ownership, secretly recording a partner, guest, or roommate in a bedroom or bathroom is inside the statute regardless of whose house it is.
Are security cameras legal in Arizona?
Yes, with limits. The statute exempts security recording when notice is clearly posted in locations where privacy is expected, and ordinary outdoor and common-area cameras do not implicate 13-3019 at all. Hidden cameras in bathrooms or bedrooms are another matter entirely.
What’s the difference between 13-3019 and voyeurism?
Voyeurism (A.R.S. 13-1424) targets surveilling a person for sexual gratification, while 13-3019 targets the secret recording or viewing itself, no sexual-gratification element required. Prosecutors choose between them, and the choice affects class and registration exposure.
Does a conviction under 13-3019 require sex offender registration?
It can, courts have discretion to order registration for offenses committed for sexual gratification, and related charges like voyeurism carry their own exposure. Avoiding registration is a central goal of the defense in every one of these cases.
What should I do if police want my phone in a recording investigation?
Do not consent to the search and do not delete anything, deletion can become its own charge. Ask for a lawyer before any interview; the phone search, the consent evidence, and the charging choice all need immediate professional attention.
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We serve all of Maricopa County and the surrounding area, with free, confidential consultations 24/7 by phone and in-person meetings at either office by appointment.
Case Results Disclaimer: The results described on this page are based on specific facts and circumstances and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee future results. No attorney-client relationship is formed by viewing this page or submitting a contact form until a written fee agreement has been signed. Tamou Law Group, PLLC is licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
