Wiretaps,whether Federal or State, fall under Title III regulations. Generally speaking,if the tapes are part of a court record,they are public documents and can be released.

Having said that,there are still circumstances under which recordings can be withheld from public release. The problem is that so far,when petitions were made to courts for release of certain tapes,the highest level at which decisions were made was at the US District Court,and Circuit Appeals Court level.

Since the US Supreme Court has never consented to hear an Appellate case concerning public "right to know" on such tapes,what you have is the last ruling by whichever Circuit
Court issued it being the accepted standard.

So in a nutshell,the public release of tapes can vary from Circuit to Circuit, each one being independent of the other. Until such time as the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case and decide on the Constitutionality of such tape releases,there will be no standard procedure on a national basis.

Right now,the only option is to file an FOIA request, and if you are turned down, take your chances on whichever jurisdiction will hear the the Appeal.