Federal and state courts reported a combined 24 percent decrease in authorized wiretaps in 2025, compared with 2024, according to the Judiciary’s 2025 Wiretap Report. Convictions in cases involving electronic surveillance decreased, while arrests increased slightly.
The report covers wire, oral, and electronic intercepts that were concluded between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025. The report, which does not include interceptions regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, is submitted annually to Congress by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO).
A total of 1,735 wiretaps were reported as authorized in 2025, compared with 2,297 the previous year. Of those, 873 were authorized by federal judges, a 32 percent decrease from 2024. State judges authorized 862 wiretaps, a 14 percent decrease from the previous year.
No location was specified in 94 percent of applications for intercepts. In most such instances, the device was reported as a cellular or mobile phone.
There was a decrease in the number of state wiretaps in which encryption was encountered, with 229 such reports in 2025, compared with 258 in the previous year. In 217 of the encrypted state wiretaps reported in 2025, officials were unable to decrypt the plain text of messages. A total of 296 federal wiretaps were reported as being encrypted in 2025, of which 269 couldn’t be decrypted.
Drug offenses were the most prevalent type of crime investigated using intercepts. Fifty-one percent of all wiretap applications in 2025 cited narcotics as the most serious offense under investigation. Conspiracy was the second-most frequently cited crime (7 percent of total applications), and homicide and assault, the third largest category, was cited in approximately 6 percent of applications.
A total of 5,633 people were arrested as a result of wiretap investigations in 2025, up 3 percent from 2024, and 503 people were convicted in cases involving wiretaps, down 30 percent from the year before.
The District of Colorado authorized the most federal wiretaps, accounting for about 6 percent of the applications approved by federal judges. Applications in six states accounted for 81 percent of all wiretaps approved by state judges. Those states were California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and North Carolina.
Federal and state laws limit the period of surveillance under an original order to 30 days. However, the period can be extended if a judge determines that additional time is justified. A total of 1,242 extensions were authorized in 2025, a decrease of 22 percent from the year prior.
The Central District of California conducted the longest federal intercept that was terminated in 2025. An order was extended 10 times to complete a 330-day wiretap in an illegal drugs investigation. The longest state-authorized wiretap occurred in Queens, New York, where an original order was extended 10 times to complete a 327-day wiretap used in an illegal drugs investigation.
The average cost of a wiretap in 2025 was $92,963, up 15 percent from the prior year. The average cost of federal wiretaps in 2025 was $98,716, a 12 percent decrease from 2024. The numbers include the cost of installing intercept devices and monitoring communications.
The AO is required by statute to report annually to Congress by June 30 on the number and nature of wiretaps concluded in the prior year. No report to the AO is needed when an order is issued with the consent of one of the principal parties to the communication. No report is required for the use of a pen register unless the pen register is used in conjunction with any other wiretap devices whose use must be recorded.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 2519, federal and state judges and prosecuting officials, including the U.S. Attorney General or state equivalents, must report all applications for court orders authorizing the interception of communications that expired during the preceding year to the AO. The annual reporting deadlines are January 31 for judge’s reports and March 31 for prosecuting officials.
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