It depends entirely on where you live, and the map changes yearly. Thirty-two states criminalize people living with HIV, and 28 add penalty enhancements tied to knowing your status[2]. Five states have fully repealed their HIV-specific offenses; several more narrowed theirs. Florida has not: non-disclosure before sex remains a third-degree felony[11].
The two tools that will actually answer this for your state
Do not rely on a summary — including ours. Start with CHLP's HIV Criminalization in the United States: A Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice, third edition, updated January 2024. It covers all 50 states plus the military, federal prisons, and U.S. territories, and includes statutory text, case law, confidentiality exceptions, sentence enhancements for offenses such as prostitution and solicitation, and sex offender registration requirements[1].
Then check CHLP's map set, which as of its November 12, 2025 update covers exposure and transmission offenses, penalty enhancements, needle and syringe sharing, and donation offenses, with a user guide[2]. For how a law is actually used — who gets arrested, charged, and sentenced — the Williams Institute's enforcement research covered 16 states between 2015 and 2025[8].
None of this substitutes for a criminal defense lawyer licensed in your state. If you have been threatened with prosecution or charged, that call comes first.
States that fully repealed their HIV-specific criminal law (five)
Texas (1994), Illinois (2021), New Jersey (2022), North Dakota (2025), and Maryland (2025). CHLP records that in January 2022 New Jersey “became the third state, after Texas and Illinois, to repeal its HIV-specific criminal law”; New Jersey's repeal was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on January 18, 2022 (S3707/A5673), and Illinois repealed its criminal transmission of HIV statute in July 2021 (HB 1063, Public Act 102-0168)[3].
North Dakota HB 1217, signed March 19, 2025, made North Dakota the fourth state to fully repeal, striking N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-20-17 — previously a Class A felony carrying up to 20 years[4]. Maryland HB 39, the Carlton R. Smith Act, signed May 20, 2025, made Maryland the fifth; the repealed law carried up to 3 years and a $2,500 fine and required neither transmission, nor intent, nor conduct capable of transmitting HIV[5].
The caveat that matters: repeal does not make prosecution impossible. CHLP notes New Jersey prosecutions can still proceed under the general endangerment statute[3], so “repealed” is better read as “the HIV-specific offense is gone” than as “this can never be charged.”
States that narrowed the law but kept it
These states still have a statute, but rewrote it to require some combination of intent, real transmission risk, or actual transmission. Because the wording is what decides a case, read your own state's current text in CHLP's Sourcebook rather than a headline about reform[1]:
- Nevada — SB 275 (2021), sponsored by Sen. Dallas Harris and signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak. It repealed the HIV-specific felony at NRS 201.205 (up to 10 years); the replacement misdemeanor requires intent to transmit, conduct likely to transmit, and actual transmission, and applies to any communicable disease. It also repealed the category B felony for sex work after a positive HIV test and mandatory HIV testing on certain arrests[6].
- Louisiana — HB 808, signed by Gov. Jeff Landry May 15, 2026 and effective August 1, 2026. It amends La. R.S. 14:43.5 to limit prosecutions to conduct with a “substantial likelihood of transmission” and adds an affirmative defense for people who disclose their status and maintain an undetectable viral load[7].
California, Michigan, Virginia and Georgia sit in this group too. What every one of these rewrites has in common is the element the Williams Institute finds missing from unreformed laws: most HIV-related criminal laws require neither actual transmission nor intent to transmit, and some reach conduct that cannot transmit HIV at all[8].
States that removed enhancements and collateral consequences
Pennsylvania SB 45 passed on July 13, 2026 and was signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro on July 20, 2026. It removes HIV from the criminal code and ends HIV-specific sentence enhancements, including the felony enhancement attached to prostitution-related offenses[9].
Enhancements are the quiet half of this map. CHLP counts 28 states with penalty enhancements that elevate charges based on knowledge of HIV status, and it kept North Dakota and Maryland on its map after repeal — moved down the specificity scale rather than off it — because both retain health-code offenses using “sexually transmitted disease” and “infectious disease” language that still reaches people living with HIV[2]. Sero Project's national organizing exists precisely because a win in one legislature does not travel to the next one[10].
Florida: yes, and the statute has not changed since 1997
Under Fla. Stat. § 384.24(2), it is 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 to the sexual intercourse”[11]. Note the scope: this provision reaches sexual intercourse only — it contains no needle-sharing provision.
Under § 384.34(5), violating § 384.24(2) “commits a felony of the third degree,” and “any person who commits multiple violations of s. 384.24(2) commits a felony of the first degree”[12]. The statutory history tells the rest: § 384.24 was last touched by ch. 97-37 in 1997, and § 384.34 by ch. 2010-113 in 2010[11][12]. Florida has not modernized. This is general information, not legal advice.
Related questions
Which states have fully repealed their HIV-specific criminal law?
Texas in 1994, Illinois in 2021, New Jersey in 2022, North Dakota in 2025, and Maryland in 2025 — five states in total, per CHLP. Repeal removes the HIV-specific offense from the code, but it does not always end exposure to prosecution under general criminal or health-code provisions.
If my state repealed its HIV law, can I still be charged?
Potentially, yes. CHLP notes that New Jersey prosecutions can still proceed under the general endangerment statute, and that North Dakota and Maryland kept health-code offenses using “sexually transmitted disease” and “infectious disease” language that can still reach people living with HIV. That is why CHLP moved those states down its specificity scale rather than off the map.
What is the newest reform?
As of August 2026, two: Louisiana HB 808, signed May 15, 2026 and effective August 1, 2026, which limits prosecutions to conduct with a substantial likelihood of transmission and adds an affirmative defense for people who disclose and maintain an undetectable viral load; and Pennsylvania SB 45, signed July 20, 2026, which removes HIV from the criminal code and ends HIV-specific sentence enhancements.
Is HIV a felony in Florida?
Not disclosing HIV status before sexual intercourse is a third-degree felony under Fla. Stat. §§ 384.24(2) and 384.34(5), and multiple violations are charged as a first-degree felony. Neither intent to transmit nor actual transmission is required. Talk to a Florida criminal defense lawyer about any specific situation.
Related from RiseUpToHIV
References & Sources
- Center for HIV Law and Policy — HIV Criminalization in the United States: A Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice (3rd ed., updated January 2024). The state-by-state reference: statutory text, case law, confidentiality exceptions, sentence enhancements for offenses such as prostitution and solicitation, and registration requirements for all 50 states, the military, federal prisons, and territories. ↩ ↩
- CHLP — Mapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S. (updated November 12, 2025). 32 states criminalizing and 28 with penalty enhancements; the five map sets and user guide; and why North Dakota and Maryland stayed on the map after repeal. ↩ ↩ ↩
- CHLP — New Jersey state profile. New Jersey as the third state to repeal, after Texas and Illinois, and the continuing availability of the general endangerment statute after repeal. ↩ ↩
- CHLP — North Dakota Becomes Fourth State to Fully Repeal HIV Criminal Law (HB 1217). HB 1217 signed March 19, 2025, repealing N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-20-17, previously a Class A felony carrying up to 20 years. ↩
- CHLP — Maryland Repeals HIV Criminalization Law (HB 39, the Carlton R. Smith Act). HB 39 signed May 20, 2025, making Maryland the fifth state to repeal; the repealed law required neither transmission, nor intent, nor conduct capable of transmitting HIV. ↩
- CHLP — Nevada Passes Law Reforming HIV Criminal Laws (SB 275, 2021). Sen. Dallas Harris’s SB 275, signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak: repeal of NRS 201.205, an intent-plus-transmission replacement misdemeanor, and repeal of the sex work felony and mandatory-testing provisions. ↩
- CHLP — Louisiana Enacts Significant Reform of HIV Exposure Law (HB 808, 2026). HB 808 signed by Gov. Jeff Landry May 15, 2026, effective August 1, 2026: a substantial-likelihood-of-transmission limit and an affirmative defense for disclosure plus an undetectable viral load. ↩
- Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law — HIV Criminalization and Black Americans (February 2026). Enforcement research across 16 states from 2015 to 2025, and the finding that most HIV-related criminal laws require neither actual transmission nor intent to transmit. ↩ ↩
- Penn Center for AIDS Research — Gov. Shapiro Signs Bill Ending HIV-Specific Criminal Penalties in PA (SB 45). SB 45 passed July 13, 2026 and was signed July 20, 2026, removing HIV from the criminal code and ending HIV-specific sentence enhancements. ↩
- Sero Project — About Us. The national PLHIV-led organization working to end HIV criminalization, mass incarceration, and inappropriate prosecutions for non-disclosure, perceived exposure, and transmission. ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 384.24 (2025). Text of subsection (2), which reaches sexual intercourse only, the informed-consent exception, and a statutory history ending at ch. 97-37 (1997). ↩ ↩ ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 384.34. Subsection (5): a violation of § 384.24(2) is a third-degree felony, and multiple violations are a first-degree felony; statutory history ending at ch. 2010-113. ↩ ↩
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.