Yes. Florida keeps several HIV-specific criminal provisions, and none require intent to transmit or actual transmission. Non-disclosure before sexual intercourse is a third-degree felony under Fla. Stat. §§ 384.24(2) and 384.34(5), with repeat violations charged as a first-degree felony[1][2]. Florida has never modernized these laws[5].
The statutes, and what each one actually covers
§ 384.24(2) makes it unlawful for a person who has HIV, “when such person knows he or she is infected with this disease and when such person has been informed that he or she may communicate this disease to another person through sexual intercourse, to have sexual intercourse with any other person, unless such other person has been informed of the presence of the sexually transmissible disease and has consented”[1]. Read the scope carefully: this provision covers sexual intercourse only. It contains no needle-sharing provision — a detail frequently reported wrong. Under § 384.34(5), a violation is a third-degree felony, and multiple violations are a first-degree felony[2].
The double standard is on the face of the statute. § 384.24(1) applies the same structure to nine other sexually transmissible infections — chancroid, gonorrhea, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, genital herpes simplex, chlamydia, nongonococcal urethritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and syphilis — and under § 384.34(1) that is a first-degree misdemeanor[2]. Same conduct, same chapter; HIV alone gets a felony.
The three other HIV-specific offenses Florida keeps
§ 796.08(5) creates a separate offense called “criminal transmission of HIV” for committing or offering to commit prostitution, or procuring another for prostitution, “by engaging in sexual activity in a manner likely to transmit” HIV after a positive test and notice. It is a third-degree felony — not second-degree — and is chargeable and sentenceable separately from the underlying prostitution offense; the equivalent conduct with another STI is a first-degree misdemeanor under § 796.08(4)[3].
§ 775.0877 requires court-ordered HIV testing after conviction or plea to a long list of enumerated offenses involving transmission of body fluids. A person who tested positive, was told the result, and then commits a second or subsequent enumerated offense “commits criminal transmission of HIV” — another third-degree felony, separate from the underlying crime. Subsection (5) states that “nothing in this section requires that an HIV infection have occurred,” and subsection (6) supplies a knowing-consent affirmative defense[4]. Florida also criminalizes donation of blood, plasma, organs, skin, or tissue by a person who knows they have HIV and was informed of donation-related transmission, under § 381.0041(11)(b) — a third-degree felony carrying up to 5 years and $5,000[5].
No intent required. No transmission required.
The Williams Institute's Florida analysis is unambiguous: “In Florida, ‘criminal transmission of HIV’ does not require any actual transmission to trigger criminal penalties”; “Florida's HIV- and STD-specific laws do not require intent to transmit”; and “none of the HIV- or STD-specific laws require transmission to have occurred.” A first offense under § 384.24(2) carries imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of up to $5,000[5].
Set that beside the science Florida's statutes do not acknowledge: HIV.gov states that a person who takes HIV medicine as prescribed and keeps an undetectable viral load will not transmit HIV to sexual partners[11]. CHLP's Florida profile records that the state holds all four categories CHLP tracks at once — an HIV-specific exposure and transmission offense, an HIV-specific donation offense, a sex work penalty enhancement, and a general criminal law penalty enhancement[7]. Sero Project's national campaign against exactly this kind of statute is where Floridians can plug into organized advocacy[12].
Who Florida has actually arrested and imprisoned
The Williams Institute's October 2018 report covers 1986 through the end of 2017: 756 people arrested for an HIV- or other STD-specific incident, 614 arrested specifically for an HIV-related offense, across 874 HIV-related incidents and 1,084 incidents overall. Enforcement was negligible before 1993; after that it averaged about 36 HIV-related arrests a year, peaking in 2003[5].
The distribution is the argument. Arrests occurred in 47 of Florida's 67 counties, but 76% of HIV-specific incidents came from eight: Duval 23%, Hillsborough 16%, Pinellas 14%, Orange 9%, Miami-Dade 4%, Palm Beach 4%, Broward 3%, Escambia 3%. Duval alone produced 202 arrests involving 120 people while housing roughly 5–6% of Florida's people living with HIV; Miami-Dade and Broward together are home to over 40% of Florida's people living with HIV and accounted for 4% and 3% of arrests[5].
Among arrests in that period: 43% of people arrested under an HIV-related offense were Black, and 56% were women — against 27% of Florida's people living with HIV being women in 2017. Median incarceration for HIV exposure convictions specifically was 36 months (mean 46.2), while the median across all HIV-related convictions was 12 months. Average age at first HIV-related arrest was 36[5].
The most recent Florida figures are about incarceration through the end of 2020: at least 154 people imprisoned in Florida for HIV-related offenses between 1997 and 2020, carrying 205 convictions that produced a prison sentence, six in ten connected to sex work. Black people were 45% of Florida's people living with HIV in 2018 but 56% of those with prison sentences for HIV-related crimes; women were 27% of people living with HIV but 51%. The median prison sentence was 2.5 years, and the estimated cost reached $15.2 million including jails[6].
A note on numbers you may see elsewhere: the 614-arrest figure ends in 2017 and the incarceration figures end in 2020. No newer Florida enforcement dataset exists, so treat any “current” Florida arrest count with suspicion.
Florida has been asked to fix this, repeatedly
In the 2017–2018 sessions, SB 546 (Sen. René García) and identical HB 719 (Rep. Nick Duran) would have folded HIV into § 384.24 alongside other STIs and required intent to transmit, conduct posing a “substantial risk of transmission,” and actual transmission; protected people acting in good faith on a treatment regimen; and reduced the donation and repeat-offense penalties. García's similar 2017 bill “died in the Health Policy Committee in May 2017”[8].
The most recent attempt is the HIV Prevention Justice Act: SB 764, filed December 4, 2025 by Sen. Shevrin Jones, with companion HB 1223. It would have defined “substantial risk of transmission” as “a reasonable probability of disease transmission as proven by competent medical evidence,” provided that failure to follow a treatment regimen or behavioral recommendations “is not, by itself, sufficient to establish intent to transmit a disease,” and reduced the donation offense from a third-degree felony to a first-degree misdemeanor, effective July 1, 2026[9]. Equality Florida's 2026 legislative slate records the outcome: it “did not move — received public bipartisan support, but did not receive a committee hearing”[10].
That is the honest state of play in Florida as of August 2026: a bill with bipartisan support, no hearing, and a statute untouched since 1997.
If you are in Florida and worried about this
This page is general legal information, not legal advice. If you have been threatened with prosecution, questioned by police, or charged, talk to a Florida criminal defense lawyer before you talk to anyone else, and do not try to resolve it through the other person directly.
Two things worth knowing while you do. First, § 384.24(2) is written around notice and consent: the provision is not violated where the other person was informed and consented, and § 775.0877(6) supplies a parallel knowing-consent defense[1][4]. Second, the statutory history shows why this feels so out of step: § 384.24 was last amended by ch. 97-37 in 1997[1], and § 384.34 by ch. 2010-113[2]. The gap between Florida's code and Florida's science is a policy failure, not a statement about you. CHLP's Florida profile and Sourcebook are the reference materials to bring to a lawyer[7].
Related questions
Is not disclosing HIV a felony in Florida?
Yes. Under Fla. Stat. §§ 384.24(2) and 384.34(5), sexual intercourse without disclosure by a person who knows they have HIV and has been told they may transmit it is a third-degree felony, and multiple violations are a first-degree felony. The Williams Institute reports a statutory exposure of up to 5 years and a $5,000 fine for a first offense.
Does Florida law cover sharing needles?
Not under § 384.24. That provision reaches sexual intercourse only and contains no needle-sharing offense — a point often reported incorrectly. Florida's separate HIV-specific donation offense is § 381.0041(11)(b), covering blood, plasma, organs, skin, or other tissue.
Does being undetectable protect me in Florida?
Not under the statute as written. Florida's provisions contain no viral load exception, no condom exception, no intent requirement, and no transmission requirement, and the Williams Institute notes Florida's laws were never updated to account for barrier protection or an undetectable viral load. Scientifically, HIV.gov is clear that sustained suppression means HIV is not transmitted sexually — the law simply has not caught up.
Did Florida's 2026 reform bill pass?
No. SB 764 and HB 1223, the HIV Prevention Justice Act, were filed in December 2025 and referred to committee. Equality Florida's 2026 legislative slate records that the pair received public bipartisan support but never got a committee hearing.
Related from RiseUpToHIV
References & Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 384.24 (2025). Subsection (2) verbatim (sexual intercourse only, no needle-sharing provision), subsection (1)'s nine other listed infections, the informed-consent exception, and a statutory history ending at ch. 97-37 (1997). ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 384.34. Subsection (5): third-degree felony for violating § 384.24(2) and first-degree felony for multiple violations; subsection (1): first-degree misdemeanor for the non-HIV infections; history ending at ch. 2010-113. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 796.08. Subsection (5): “criminal transmission of HIV” in a prostitution context as a third-degree felony, chargeable separately from the underlying offense; subsection (4): first-degree misdemeanor for other infections. ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 775.0877. Court-ordered testing after enumerated offenses; third-degree felony for a second or subsequent enumerated offense; subsection (5) stating no HIV infection need have occurred; subsection (6) knowing-consent defense. ↩ ↩
- Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law — HIV Criminalization in Florida (October 2018). No intent or transmission required; the § 381.0041(11)(b) donation offense; up to 5 years and $5,000 for a first § 384.24(2) offense; arrests 1986–2017 including 614 HIV-related arrests, county distribution, 43% Black, 56% women, and a 36-month median for HIV exposure convictions. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
- Williams Institute — HIV Criminalization in Florida: Length and Costs of Incarceration (data through 2020). At least 154 people incarcerated 1997–2020 across 205 convictions producing prison sentences; six in ten tied to sex work; 56% Black and 51% women among those sentenced; 2.5-year median; $15.2 million estimated cost including jails. ↩
- CHLP — Florida state profile. Florida holds all four tracked categories at once, and CHLP's Florida materials are the reference set for counsel. ↩ ↩
- CHLP — A Closer Look at Proposed Legislation to Change HIV Criminal Laws in Florida. Contents of SB 546 (Sen. García) and HB 719 (Rep. Duran) in the 2017–2018 sessions, and the death of García's earlier bill in the Health Policy Committee in May 2017. ↩
- Florida Senate — SB 764 (2026), HIV Prevention Justice Act (bill page and filed text). Filed December 4, 2025 by Sen. Shevrin Jones; substantial-risk definition, the treatment-regimen provision on intent, reduction of the donation offense to a first-degree misdemeanor, and a July 1, 2026 effective date. ↩
- Equality Florida — 2026 Legislative Slate. Records HB 1223 / SB 764 and its outcome: did not move, received public bipartisan support, but did not receive a committee hearing. ↩
- HIV.gov — HIV Treatment as Prevention (updated September 18, 2025). Sustained undetectable viral load means HIV is not transmitted to sexual partners — the science Florida's statutes do not recognize. ↩
- Sero Project — About Us. The PLHIV-led national organization working to end HIV criminalization and inappropriate prosecutions, and the main entry point for organized advocacy. ↩
Community publications like POZ, Positively Aware, and TheBody inform framing and lived-experience context on RiseUpToHIV. Every clinical, epidemiological, or public-health claim above is anchored to a primary source.