Last reviewed:
Having HIV is not itself a felony. Whether particular conduct can be charged, and at what level, depends on the jurisdiction and the statute. Repealing one HIV-specific offense does not necessarily remove other applicable laws. Florida retains a felony sexual-intercourse provision with knowledge, notice, disclosure and consent requirements. Start with your state’s current law and qualified legal advice.[2][11]
The two tools that will actually answer this for your state
Start with CHLP’s Sourcebook, which provides legal text and analysis by jurisdiction. Check the relevant chapter’s update date and compare it with current official statutes and court decisions before relying on a summary.[1]
CHLP’s September 15, 2026 map set helps identify relevant types of offenses and enhancements. For historical enforcement patterns, the Williams Institute’s research offers a different kind of evidence: who was arrested, convicted or imprisoned in a specified place and period. The map and those studies answer different questions.[2][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.
Examples of HIV-specific offense repeal
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 Phil Murphy on January 18, 2022 (S3707/A5673), and Illinois repealed its criminal transmission of HIV statute in July 2021 (HB 1063, Public Act 102-0168)[3].
North Dakota’s HB 1217 (signed March 19, 2025) repealed its HIV-specific exposure offense. Maryland’s HB 39, the Carlton R. Smith Act (signed May 20, 2025), repealed its HIV-specific transmission statute. These are important changes to particular provisions, not a guarantee that every other criminal or health law is inapplicable.[4][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 CHLP notes New Jersey prosecutions can still proceed under the general endangerment statute[3], so “repealed” is better read as “the HIV-specific offense is gone” than as “this can never be charged.”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, signed July 20, 2026, removed the HIV-specific felony enhancement for prostitution-related conduct. CHLP, SERO and Positive Women’s Network–USA welcomed that change while warning that other parts of the legislation could increase harms to sex workers and survivors. It should not be summarized as removing every possible HIV-related prosecution.[9]
Penalty enhancements and broader disease laws must be checked separately from exposure-offense repeal. CHLP’s maps distinguish these categories; a favorable reform headline does not establish that all relevant provisions are gone. Sero supports community organizing across states.[2][10]
Florida: the requirements are in the statute
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.
Fair treatment beyond an undetectable result
U=U is important evidence, but rights must not depend on a lab result. CHLP, SERO and partner organizations warn that reform limited to people who can document suppression leaves others behind. Unequal access to care is part of that concern.[13]
A lawyer may use relevant medical evidence in an individual defense. That is different from making suppression the condition for fair treatment in the law. Read about the viral divide and barriers to care, including housing, costs, mental health and substance use. These circumstances do not establish anyone’s viral load or intent.
Related questions
Which states have repealed HIV-specific offenses?
Examples include repeal of particular HIV-specific offenses in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, North Dakota and Maryland. The provisions removed differ, and other criminal or health-code laws may still apply. Read the remaining law, not just the repeal headline.
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 are some recent reforms?
Examples from 2026 include Louisiana’s HB 808, narrowing its exposure law, and Pennsylvania’s SB 45, removing the HIV-specific sex-work felony enhancement. Their scope and limitations differ; neither means every possible prosecution involving HIV has ended.
Is HIV a felony in Florida?
Having HIV is not itself a felony. Florida §384.24(2) applies to sexual intercourse when a person knows their status and has been informed about possible transmission, unless the partner is informed and consents. Section 384.34(5) specifies a third-degree felony for a violation and a first-degree felony for multiple violations. Obtain legal advice about a specific situation.
Related from RiseUpToHIV
References & Sources
- CHLP. HIV Criminalization Sourcebook. Legal text and analysis; check each chapter’s update date against current official law. ↩↩
- CHLP. Mapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S. (September 15, 2026). Offense and enhancement categories, including broader disease laws. ↩↩↩
- 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. ↩ ↩
- CHLP, SERO and Positive Women’s Network–USA. Pennsylvania reform and its limits (August 13, 2026). HIV-specific sex-work enhancement removed; concerns about other provisions. ↩
- 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. ↩ ↩
- CHLP, SERO and partners. Call to Action for Racial Justice in HIV Criminal Law Reform (2018); CHLP, Treatment as Prevention in Criminal Law Reform: FAQ (2017), question 9. ↩
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.