One Party Consent to Record Phone Calls in Georgia

Pate, Johnson and Church has been representing civil, criminal, and whistleblower clients in Georgia for over twenty-five years. Occasionally, the media will contact our attorneys for legal opinions on cases and issues appearing in the news.

In this case, Atlanta Magazine interviewed Attorney Jess Johnson about the legalities of recording phone calls in Georgia after Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, recorded a lengthy phone call with President Donald Trump regarding the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Many supporters of President Trump were outraged by the recording of this call and its release to the public.

Since Georgia has a “single party consent” law governing the recording of phone calls, Raffensperger was permitted to record the call with President Trump. Jess explains that “The law allows a person to record someone else asking them to do something illegal, or threatening them in some way, which could be useful as evidence.” However, Jess does note that “There can be a “gray area” if you call from a state with single-party consent to a state, like California, that requires both parties to consent to a call.”