Electronic Surveillance Act
LA Electronic Surveillance Act
Communications
Louisiana's wiretap law makes it a crime to intercept wire, electronic, or oral communications, or to use or disclose intercepted contents, unless an exception applies. It is a one-party consent law: a private person may record a communication they take part in, or with one party's prior consent, unless the purpose is to commit a criminal, tortious, or other injurious act. Victims have a civil damages action.
- Where
- Louisiana
- Citation
- La. R.S. 15:1301 to 15:1318
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1985-07-23
- Enforced by
- District attorneys and courts (criminal); private civil actions
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Unlawful interception, disclosure, or use is a felony punishable by a fine up to $10,000 and 2 to 10 years at hard labor. Civil plaintiffs recover actual damages but at least the greater of $100 per day of violation or $1,000, plus punitive damages and attorney fees.
- Applies to
- Any person who intercepts, discloses, or uses wire, electronic, or oral communications
- Providers of electronic communication services to the public (limits on divulging contents in transmission)
Rights it gives people
- A person whose communication is unlawfully intercepted, disclosed, or used may sue for actual damages (minimum $100 per day or $1,000), punitive damages, and attorney fees.La. R.S. 15:1312(A)
Practices it requires
- Do not willfully intercept, or use or disclose the contents of, any wire, electronic, or oral communication except as the Chapter allows.La. R.S. 15:1303(A)-(B)
- Public electronic communication service providers may not intentionally divulge the contents of a communication in transmission to anyone other than the addressee, except as authorized by law, for forwarding, or to report apparent crimes to law enforcement.La. R.S. 15:1303(C)(6)
Other duties
- One-party consent: a person not acting under color of law may intercept a communication if a party to it or one party has given prior consent, unless the interception is for a criminal, tortious, or injurious purpose.La. R.S. 15:1303(C)(4)
- Communications common carriers may not use service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or service quality control checks.La. R.S. 15:1303(C)(1)
Sources
- Official text
- La. R.S. 15:1301 Short title (Louisiana Legislature)
- La. R.S. 15:1303 (Louisiana Legislature)
- La. R.S. 15:1312 Civil damages (Louisiana Legislature)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Latest amendment date to the Chapter as a whole not determined; R.S. 15:1303 and 15:1312 were last amended by Acts 2012, No. 727. Acts 2025, No. 33 (SB 53) amended the interception-warrant provisions (law enforcement), not checked in detail. | Stored-communications and pen-register provisions (Part III) not summarized.
Research reference, not legal advice.