A Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls and In-Person Conversations in the 50 States and D.C.

• Introduction

• State-by-state guide

• Tape-recording laws
  at a glance

• Consent and its limits

• Interstate phone calls

• Possession and
  publication

• The FCC’s role

• Cellular & cordless calls

• Citations to cases

Indiana

The recording or acquiring of the contents of a telephonic or telegraphic communication by someone who is neither the sender nor the receiver is a felony and can be the basis for civil liability as well. Ind. Code Ann. § 35-33.5-1-5.

Civil liability may require the payment of actual damages, $100 per day for each day of violation or $1,000 — whichever is greater — and punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees. Ind. Code Ann. § 35-33.5-5-4.

In 2000, the Supreme Court of Indiana held that the Indiana Wiretap Act requires the state to prove the eavesdropper acted with intent. State v. Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d 653. (Ind. 2000).

The Court of Appeals of Indiana held in 2007 that the interception and recording of calls made by prisoners from a jail did not violate the Wiretap Act, since recipients of calls were informed prior to accepting collect calls that the calls might be recorded or monitored, and the recipients pressed zero, accepting the calls and indicating their consent. Edwards v. State, 862 N.E.2d 1254, (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).