Colorado wiretapping and eavesdropping laws
Colorado wiretap/eavesdropping
Communications
Colorado is a one-party consent state. Recording or intercepting a phone or electronic communication is a crime unless the sender or a receiver consents, and recording an in-person conversation by someone not visibly present requires consent of at least one principal party. Using or disclosing unlawfully obtained contents is also prohibited.
- Where
- Colorado
- Citation
- C.R.S. 18-9-301 to 18-9-305
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1971-07-01
- Last amended
- 2023-10-01
- Enforced by
- District attorneys (criminal prosecution)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Wiretapping (18-9-303(2)) and eavesdropping (18-9-304(2)) are class 2 misdemeanors.
- Applies to
- Any person who intercepts, records, uses, or discloses telephone, telegraph, or electronic communications or in-person conversations (18-9-303, 18-9-304)
Practices it requires
- Do not overhear, read, copy, or record a telephone, telegraph, or electronic communication without the consent of either a sender or a receiver.C.R.S. 18-9-303(1)(a)
- A person not visibly present may not overhear or record a conversation without consent of at least one principal party.C.R.S. 18-9-304(1)(a)
- Do not use or disclose the contents of communications known to have been unlawfully intercepted, or install interception devices on another's lines or equipment.C.R.S. 18-9-303(1)(c)-(d); 18-9-304(1)(c)
Sources
- Official text
- Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 18 (Office of Legislative Legal Services, leg.colorado.gov)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: The 1971 date is the recodification date in the source note (L. 71: R&RE); original enactment is earlier. Exceptions in 18-9-305 were not reviewed in detail.
Research reference, not legal advice.