Montana: Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

Montana's recording rule is one part of a broader criminal statute, Mont. Code Ann. § 45-8-213, "violating privacy in communications." The subsection that matters for ordinary recording is (1)(c), which targets recording a conversation with a hidden device. Other parts of the same statute address harassing electronic messages and the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images; those are separate offenses with their own rules.

Whose consent a participant needs

Montana keys its rule to knowledge, not formal consent. It is a crime to record "a conversation by use of a hidden electronic or mechanical device that reproduces a human conversation without the knowledge of all parties to the conversation" (§ 45-8-213(1)(c)). The practical effect is close to an all-party rule: everyone in the conversation must know it is being recorded. But the statute supplies an easy way to satisfy that — a warning. Once one party gives warning of the recording, "either party may record" (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)(iii)).

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

The offense turns on two things together: a hidden device and the absence of the other parties' knowledge. There is no separate "confidential communication" test to litigate. Because the device must be hidden, an openly visible recorder that participants can see, or any recording made after a warning, falls outside the prohibition, as does recording where no one has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The hidden-device rule reaches both a telephone call and an in-person "human conversation" (§ 45-8-213(1)(c)). A separate offense in § 45-8-213(3) covers purposely intercepting an "electronic communication," which the statute defines broadly as any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence (§ 45-8-213(6)). That electronic-communication offense carries its own official-duty and warning exceptions.

How consent or notice is given

You do not need signed consent — you need to make sure every party knows. A warning is expressly enough, and after one party gives it, either party may record (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)(iii)). The statute prescribes no particular wording, tone, or writing. The safe practice is to state clearly, before recording, that the conversation is being recorded.

Major participant-facing exceptions

The hidden-device rule does not apply to elected or appointed officials and public employees recording in the performance of official duty, to persons speaking at public meetings, to anyone given a warning of the recording, or to a health care facility recording a health-care emergency telephone call (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)). The warning exception is the one an ordinary person will use most.

Criminal classification and penalty

Recording in violation of the statute is a misdemeanor. A person convicted "shall be fined an amount not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 6 months, or both" (§ 45-8-213(4)(a)). The statute's escalating penalties for repeat offenses apply to the harassing-communication and image-disclosure offenses, not to the recording offense, so the recording violation stays a misdemeanor.

Civil remedy and evidence effect

Section 45-8-213 is a criminal statute only. It authorizes no civil cause of action and states no rule making an unlawful recording inadmissible. A person harmed by an illegal recording must look to general Montana law — including the state constitution's strong privacy protection — rather than to a damages remedy inside this section.

Interstate and federal boundary

Montana is stricter than the federal baseline, which lets a participant or a person with one party's consent record unless the purpose is criminal or tortious (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)). For any call connected to Montana, make sure every party knows about the recording — a warning is enough. When participants are in different states, getting everyone's agreement avoids a violation under whichever state's law applies.

What trips people up

"Hidden" is doing the work. The crime is recording with a hidden device without the others' knowledge (§ 45-8-213(1)(c)). If you tell everyone you are recording, or the recorder is plainly visible and known, you are outside the prohibition — Montana's rule is really about secrecy, not about a signed consent form.

One warning frees either side. The statute says that once one person provides the warning, "either party may record" (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)(iii)). So a caller who announces the recording cannot later complain that the other participant also recorded the same call.

There is no damages lawsuit built into this statute. Unlike many states, Montana's recording law gives no private cause of action. Enforcement is criminal, and any civil claim would rest on other law, so do not assume you can sue for statutory damages under § 45-8-213 itself.

Common questions

Can I secretly record my own phone call in Montana? Not if the recorder is hidden and the other party does not know. Montana requires the knowledge of all parties; give a warning first, and then either of you may record (§ 45-8-213(1)(c), (2)(a)(iii)).

Does announcing "this call is being recorded" make it legal? Yes. A warning satisfies the statute, and once given, either party may record the conversation (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)(iii)).

Can I record a public official doing their job? The hidden-device rule does not apply to elected or appointed officials and public employees recording in official duty, and recording people speaking at a public meeting is also excepted (§ 45-8-213(2)(a)). Recording in a genuinely public setting where no one expects privacy is generally outside the statute.

Statutes and sources

• Mont. Code Ann. § 45-8-213 — violating privacy in communications; hidden-device recording rule, warning exception, and misdemeanor penalty. https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0450/chapter_0080/part_0020/section_0130/0450-0080-0020-0130.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) — federal one-party consent rule. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section2511&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-20)