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What is HIV modernization?

Answered in plain language, anchored to CDC, HIV.gov, and NIH.

Educational information only — not medical advice. Talk to your healthcare provider about your specific situation.
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HIV modernization is the movement to rewrite HIV criminal laws so they match the science — requiring real intent and real transmission risk instead of punishing knowledge of a diagnosis. It is led by people living with HIV, with the Sero Project at the center of U.S. organizing[1] and CHLP supplying the legal analysis[2]. Florida has not modernized[11].

Repeal, modernization, and why the difference matters

Full repeal removes the HIV-specific criminal offense from the code entirely. Five states have done it: Texas (1994), Illinois (2021), New Jersey (2022), North Dakota (2025), and Maryland (2025). North Dakota's HB 1217 was signed March 19, 2025, striking a Class A felony that had carried up to 20 years[3], and Maryland's HB 39, the Carlton R. Smith Act, was signed May 20, 2025, repealing a law that required neither transmission, nor intent, nor conduct capable of transmitting HIV[4].

Modernization keeps a statute but narrows it — adding intent, requiring actual transmission, requiring conduct that can actually transmit HIV, cutting penalties, or recognizing treatment and prevention. California, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana are the documented examples.

Neither is a finish line. Even after repeal, general criminal laws remain available, and health-code offenses using “sexually transmitted disease” or “infectious disease” language can still reach people living with HIV — which is why CHLP moved North Dakota and Maryland down its specificity scale rather than off the map, and why the national count of states with HIV-specific exposure and transmission laws stayed at 32 after two repeals[2].

Who leads this work

The movement's defining feature is that people living with HIV lead it. Sero Project describes its mission as centering “PLHIV leadership to end HIV criminalization, mass incarceration, racial and social injustice by supporting inclusive PLHIV networks to improve policy outcomes, advance human rights and promote healing justice.” Sero runs the Network Empowerment Project, produces the biennial HIV Is Not a Crime national training academy, co-founded HIV Justice Worldwide, coordinates with Latinx+, and publishes Turn It Up! Staying Strong Inside for and by incarcerated people living with HIV[1].

CHLP supplies the legal infrastructure: the Sourcebook, the criminalization map set, state-by-state reform analyses, and advocacy that includes denouncing backward steps and continuing to press for full repeal of offenses like aggravated prostitution[6]. And the Williams Institute supplies the evidence base — enforcement studies plus the racial-justice analysis showing that Black Americans were roughly 12% of the U.S. population but 39% of people living with HIV in 2023, with incarceration rates nearly five times those of white Americans[10]. Advocacy, law, and data working together is what has moved legislatures.

The four principles, in real statutory language

  1. Intent required, not just knowledge. Nevada's replacement offense under SB 275 (2021) requires intent to transmit, conduct likely to transmit, and actual transmission[5]; Louisiana's HB 808 limits prosecutions to conduct with a “substantial likelihood of transmission”[7].
  2. Treatment and viral suppression recognized. Michigan's MCL § 333.5210(4) provides that a person “adherent with the treatment plan of an attending physician” and “medically suppressed per accepted medical standards is not acting with reckless disregard”[8], and Louisiana's HB 808 adds an affirmative defense for people who disclose and maintain an undetectable viral load[7]. These two are the clearest verified codifications of U=U in U.S. criminal law; no reliable national count exists, so check your own state's text rather than a headline number.

Proportional penalties, and stripping out the enhancements

  1. Proportional sentencing. California's SB 239 (2017), Chapter 537, approved and filed October 6, 2017, repealed felony HIV exposure and donation provisions carrying 3/5/8 and 2/4/6 years, replacing them with a misdemeanor capped at six months in county jail and requiring knowledge, specific intent to transmit, substantial risk, and actual transmission[9]. Nevada repealed a 10-year HIV-specific felony outright[5].
  2. Enhancements and collateral consequences removed. Pennsylvania's SB 45, signed July 20, 2026, removes HIV from the criminal code and ends HIV-specific sentence enhancements, including the felony enhancement for prostitution-related offenses[11]. Tennessee's 2024 law removed aggravated prostitution from the sex offender registry lists and allowed expungement petitions, without repealing the offense itself[6].

The verified reform timeline

Bill numbers and dates below come from CHLP's reform releases and state legislative records; each one is listed in full in the references at the foot of this page[2].

Progress is real and it is uneven. Tennessee expanded HIV-related criminalization in 2023 before narrowing its registry consequences in 2024, and CHLP denounced that expansion at the time[6]. Modernization is won legislature by legislature, and it can go backwards.

Florida: bipartisan support, no hearing

Florida has no successful modernization. It remains one of the 32 states with HIV-specific exposure and transmission laws[2]. Modernization bills have been filed repeatedly, most recently HB 1223 and SB 764 — the HIV Prevention Justice Act, also called the HIV Modernization Act — and Equality Florida's 2026 legislative slate records that the pair “did not move — received public bipartisan support, but did not receive a committee hearing”[12].

If you live in Florida and want to help change that, the national doors are open: Sero Project's biennial HIV Is Not a Crime national training academy and its PLHIV network-building work are the standard entry points for people who would rather organize than wait[1]. In-state advocacy is anchored by Equality Florida, with CHLP providing the legal analysis legislators are handed[2].

Related questions

What is the difference between repeal and modernization?

Repeal deletes the HIV-specific offense from the criminal code; five states have done that — Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Maryland. Modernization keeps a statute but narrows it, typically by requiring intent, real transmission risk, and actual transmission, and by cutting penalties. California, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana are the documented modernization states.

Have any states written U=U into their criminal law?

Two that we can verify. Michigan's MCL § 333.5210(4) says a person adherent with a physician's treatment plan and medically suppressed is not acting with reckless disregard, and Louisiana's HB 808, effective August 1, 2026, creates an affirmative defense for people who disclose and maintain an undetectable viral load. Nevada's reformed law also provides a defense for using means to prevent transmission. No reliable national count exists.

Who leads HIV modernization work?

People living with HIV. The Sero Project centers PLHIV leadership, runs the Network Empowerment Project and the biennial HIV Is Not a Crime national training academy, and publishes Turn It Up! Staying Strong Inside for and by incarcerated people living with HIV. CHLP provides the Sourcebook, the map set, and state-level legal analysis, and the Williams Institute provides the enforcement and racial-justice data.

Can reform go backwards?

Yes. Tennessee expanded HIV-related criminalization in 2023 — CHLP publicly denounced it — before narrowing registry consequences in 2024 without repealing aggravated prostitution. And CHLP notes that even in repeal states, general criminal and health-code provisions can still reach people living with HIV.

What are HIV criminalization laws?
What these statutes punish, and why the science undercuts them.
Is HIV a felony in my state?
State by state: repeal, modernization, and the states that have not moved.
Policy & Advocacy
Criminalization, funding, and the reforms still pending in Florida.
Is HIV still a death sentence?
What has changed medically, and why the fear outlived the facts.
Find help near you
Testing, care, and support services you can reach today.
What HIV actually feels like, stage by stage, from a PLWH perspective.
HIV Testing Options
Window periods, test types, and where to test — including free Florida options.
Newly Diagnosed
The first 24 hours, first 7 days, first 30 days after a positive test.
HIV Symptoms in Women
How symptoms and progression can differ, and why women are diagnosed later.
Undetectable = Untransmittable
The clinical evidence behind U=U and what "undetectable" actually means.
Last reviewed: August 31, 2026 by the RiseUpToHIV. Educational content only — not medical advice.

References & Sources

  1. Sero Project — About Us. Mission statement centering PLHIV leadership; the Network Empowerment Project; the biennial HIV Is Not a Crime training academy; HIV Justice Worldwide; Latinx+; and Turn It Up! Staying Strong Inside. ↩ ↩ ↩
  2. CHLP — Mapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S. (updated November 12, 2025). The 32-state count holding after the 2025 repeals; the HIV specificity scale; Texas as the first repeal state; and CHLP's role supplying legal analysis to advocates and legislators. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
  3. CHLP — North Dakota Becomes Fourth State to Fully Repeal HIV Criminal Law (HB 1217). HB 1217 signed March 19, 2025, repealing a Class A felony carrying up to 20 years. ↩
  4. CHLP — Maryland Repeals HIV Criminalization Law (HB 39, the Carlton R. Smith Act). Signed May 20, 2025, making Maryland the fifth state to repeal; the repealed law required neither transmission, intent, nor conduct capable of transmitting HIV. ↩
  5. CHLP — Nevada Passes Law Reforming HIV Criminal Laws (SB 275, 2021). Intent, likely-to-transmit conduct, and actual transmission required; repeal of the 10-year HIV-specific felony at NRS 201.205; sponsor Sen. Dallas Harris. ↩ ↩
  6. CHLP — Tennessee Removes Aggravated Prostitution from Offenses Requiring Sex Offender Registration (SB 0181 / HB 1384). Signed March 11, 2024, effective July 1, 2024; registry relief and expungement petitions only, with CHLP continuing to seek full repeal — and CHLP's denunciation of Tennessee's 2023 expansion of HIV criminalization. ↩ ↩ ↩
  7. CHLP — Louisiana Enacts Significant Reform of HIV Exposure Law (HB 808, 2026). Rep. Wayne McMahen's HB 808 signed May 15, 2026 and effective August 1, 2026: substantial-likelihood-of-transmission limit plus an affirmative defense for disclosure with an undetectable viral load. ↩ ↩ ↩
  8. Michigan Legislature — MCL § 333.5210. 2018 Public Act 537, effective March 28, 2019, and the subsection (4) provision on treatment adherence and medical suppression. ↩
  9. California Legislature — SB 239 (2017–2018), Chapter 537. Approved and filed with the Secretary of State October 6, 2017; repeal of the 3/5/8-year and 2/4/6-year felony provisions and replacement with a six-month misdemeanor requiring intent, substantial risk, and actual transmission. ↩
  10. Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law — HIV Criminalization and Black Americans (February 2026). Black Americans as about 12% of the U.S. population but 39% of people living with HIV and 38% of new diagnoses in 2023, with incarceration rates nearly five times those of white Americans. ↩
  11. 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 signed July 20, 2026, removing HIV from the criminal code and ending HIV-specific sentence enhancements including the prostitution-related felony enhancement. ↩ ↩
  12. Equality Florida — 2026 Legislative Slate. HB 1223 / SB 764, the HIV Modernization Act: did not move, received public bipartisan support, but did not receive a committee hearing. ↩

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.