AI consent form do's and don'ts
Illinois, Maine, and Colorado require the client's written consent before AI assists with a transcribed therapy session. Louisiana, Rhode Island, and Texas require notice.
Co-founder, JotPsych
Your clinicians use an AI tool that drafts notes from session audio, and your intake consent form says nothing about AI. Add an AI section to the form before your next session.
Give AI its own section of the form
Say what the AI does and how the data is kept
Get written consent before the first AI-assisted session
Counting a terms-of-use agreement as consent
Refusing therapy to a client who says no
Waiting for a federal rule
State statutes as enacted, read October 2, 2026. Colorado asks for consent once, before the first AI-assisted session, and again only if your use of AI changes.
Do these three
Give AI its own section of the form.
Maine's law lets a client consent "by initialing a specific section" of the consent to treatment. Put your AI language there. Add a line for your client's initials, and tell your clients they can take the consent back later.
Say what the AI does and how the data is kept.
Maine's notice has three parts. Tell each of your clients that AI will be used, what the tool is for, and how session data will be "stored, retained, used for training and deleted." Get those details from your AI vendor first.
Get written consent before the first AI-assisted session.
Send your form before the visit. Colorado's law requires written notice in advance and written consent.
Avoid these three
Don't count your terms of use as consent.
Illinois doesn't accept a broad terms-of-use agreement as consent, and neither does Maine. Your portal's click-through terms won't cover AI in either state.
Don't refuse therapy to a client who says no.
Maine bars a clinician from denying therapy "on the sole basis" that the client hasn't consented to AI, and Colorado's law says the same. Keep seeing that client. Turn your AI tool off for those sessions.
Don't wait for a federal rule.
Federal rules say little about AI notes. Asked about federal guidance, government affairs staff at the Medical Group Management Association called it "one of the big question marks moving forward." State laws apply now.
The six state laws
Three more states require notice instead of written consent. Louisiana requires your clinicians to tell each client aloud about the recording tool before any part of a visit is recorded for AI transcription. Rhode Island requires notice and a review of the AI's note for accuracy. Texas requires a plain-language notice by the first service.
Check which of your clinicians each law covers. Illinois's law covers your licensed therapists and psychiatric advanced practice nurses, but not your physicians.
| State | What the clinician must do | In effect since |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Written notice and consent | August 1, 2025 |
| Maine | Written notice and consent | July 29, 2026 |
| Colorado | Written notice in advance and written consent | August 12, 2026 |
| Texas | Plain-language notice by the first service | January 1, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | Notice, then an accuracy review of the note | June 22, 2026 |
| Louisiana | Spoken notice before recording a visit for AI | August 1, 2026 |
State statutes as enacted, read October 2, 2026. Maine's law covers psychiatrists too, not only therapists.
California's Senate Bill 903 would have required a client's consent before AI records or transcribes a therapy session. The Governor vetoed the bill on September 30, 2026, and the Senate hadn't voted on the veto as of October 2, 2026.
Upload your consent PDF to JotPsych's form builder to get a form you review and send by text or email.
See JotPsych- Madison Hynes, MPP, and James Haynes, JD, associate directors of government affairs at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), “MGMA Government Affairs: 2026 Washington Update”, MGMA 2026 Annual Conference, San Antonio, September 27, 2026.
- Maine LD 2082, Public Law 2025, chapter 687, signed April 13, 2026, in effect July 29, 2026; read October 2, 2026.
- Illinois Public Act 104-0054, the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, 225 ILCS 155, in effect August 1, 2025; read October 2, 2026.
- Colorado HB26-1195, Session Laws 2026, chapter 358, in effect August 12, 2026; final act text read October 2, 2026.
- Louisiana HB 475, Act 649 of 2026, R.S. 37:22.1, in effect August 1, 2026; read October 2, 2026.
- Rhode Island Public Laws 2026, chapter 199, in effect on enactment, June 22, 2026; read October 2, 2026.
- Texas HB 149, Business and Commerce Code 552.051(f), in effect January 1, 2026; read October 2, 2026.
- California Senate Bill 903 (2025 to 2026 session), Mental health professionals: artificial intelligence, bill history: vetoed by the Governor September 30, 2026, with consideration of the veto pending in the Senate; read October 2, 2026.