Is it legal to record a meeting with only one person knowing they are being recorded. i live in Georgia?

I live in Georgia . I had a school meeting were no minors were present. My daughter and myself , principle ,counselor and my grandson's teacher. I taped it without the other party knowing. The principle made some unethical remarks (snide comments) even calling me a bully after I said that if I couldn't get resolution to our problem. I need to know is this legal.I know one party has to know that they are being recorded , myself and my daughter.knew. But the teacher, principle and counselor did not know. Can I turn this tape over to the board of Education or state.without breaking the law.Is it legal to record a meeting with only one person knowing they are being recorded. i live in Georgia?
I will show you the relevant Georgia Code provisions first and then make sense of it.



16-11-62.

It shall be unlawful for:

(1) Any person in a clandestine manner intentionally to overhear, transmit, or record or attempt to overhear, transmit, or record the private conversation of another which shall originate in any private place;

(2) Any person, through the use of any device, without the consent of all persons observed, to observe, photograph, or record the activities of another which occur in any private place and out of public view; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful:





16-11-66.

(a) Nothing in Code Section 16-11-62 shall prohibit a person from intercepting a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.





The key language here is:

1. In Private

2. Without Consent

3. Party to the Communication



As far as (1), we would need to determine if the conversation is going on in private. Public communications are generally not protected, the idea being that what you say in public is not based on any expectation of privacy.

As far as (2), generally speaking, you CANNOT audio record a private conversation without consent.

However, the second provision above states that if the person is a PARTY to the conversation, then the bar to recording does not apply.



In your case, you, the person doing the recording, is a party to the conversation. Thus you do not have to secure prior consent from the other parties. The idea here is that since the parties are speaking to YOU, then they have no privacy expectation towards YOU. Think of it like this: Even without a recorded tape, you could still testify in court about what you heard because you have firsthand knowledge- it is not hearsay. So why should it matter if you record what you hear already? The case would be different if you started taping third parties without their consent. In that sense, neither of the parties contemplated that a third person would overhear their conversation.Is it legal to record a meeting with only one person knowing they are being recorded. i live in Georgia?
I would be very carefull with that tape until you find out the laws in Georgia. You are wasting your time giving the tape to the board of Ed they will only be concerned with covering up to protect themselves from lawsuits.