Bigamy Laws States R-W
Please note there is no centralized database
for jurisdictions to check to see whether or not a person is being
truthful on their application.
The sentences and fines for bigamy are less than for a DUI. If a National
Marriage Database were in place, this would not be a problem. I urge
you to sign the petition urging Congress to institute such a database. Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota
§ 11-6-1 Bigamy. – Every person who shall be convicted of being married to another, or of cohabiting with another as husband and wife, having at the time a former husband or wife living, shall be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000); provided, that this shall not extend to any person whose husband or wife shall be continually remaining without the limits of this state for the space of seven (7) years together, the party being married after the expiration of the seven (7) years, not knowing the other to be living within that time, nor to any person who shall be divorced at the time of the second marriage, nor to any person by reason of any former or prior marriage made when the man was less than fourteen (14) and the woman less than twelve (12) years of age.
§ 12-12-17 Statute of limitations. – (a) There shall be no statute of limitations for the following offenses: treason against the state, any homicide, arson, first degree arson, second degree arson, third degree arson, burglary, counterfeiting, forgery, robbery, rape, first degree sexual assault, first degree child molestation sexual assault, second degree child molestation sexual assault, bigamy, manufacturing, selling, distribution or possession with intent to manufacture, sell or distribute a controlled substance under the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, chapter 28 of title 21, or any other offense for which the maximum penalty provided is life imprisonment.
§ 15-1-5 Bigamous marriages void –
Marriage of persons who are mentally incompetent. –
Any marriage, when either of the parties at the time of the marriage has a
former wife or husband living who has not been, by final decree, divorced from
that party, and any marriage where either of the parties is mentally
incompetent at the time of the marriage, shall be absolutely void, and no life
estate created by chapter 25 of title 33 shall be assigned to any widow in
consequence of the marriage.
CHAPTER 15. OFFENSES AGAINST MORALITY AND DECENCY
SECTION 16-15-10. Bigamy. [SC ST SEC 16-15-10]
Any person who is married who shall marry another person shall, unless:
(1)
His or her husband or wife has remained continually for seven years
beyond the sea or continually absented himself or herself from such
person for the space of seven years together, such person not knowing
his or her wife or husband to be living within that time;
(2) He or she was married before the age of consent;
(3) His or her wife or husband is under sentence of imprisonment for life; or
(4)
His or her marriage has been annulled or he or she has been divorced by
decree of a competent tribunal having jurisdiction both of the cause
and the parties;
On conviction, be punished by imprisonment in
the Penitentiary for not more than five years nor less than six months
or by imprisonment in the jail for six months and by a fine of not less
than five hundred dollars. Bigamy is a Class F felony.
22-22-15. Bigamy defined--Exceptions--Felony. Any person who,
while married to another presently living person, marries any other person, is
guilty of bigamy. This section does not apply to: (1) Any person, whose husband or wife has been absent
for five successive years without being known to be living by such
person; (2) Any person, whose husband
or wife has absented himself or herself from such spouse by being outside the
United States, continuously for five years; (3) Any person, whose marriage has been pronounced void, annulled, or
dissolved by a competent court; or (4)
Any person, presently married, who believes, in good faith, and has reason to
believe, that the marriage has been pronounced void, annulled, or dissolved by a
competent court.
Bigamy is a Class 6 felony. (SL 2005, ch 120, § 23, provides
for the transfer of this section on July 1, 2006. See § 22-22A-1.)
39.15.291:
Bigamy
A person
commits bigamy who:
(1) Is married and purports to marry a person other than such person's
spouse in this state under circumstances that would, but for such person's
existing marriage, constitute a marriage; or
TITLE 6. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY
CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY
§ 25.01. BIGAMY. (a) An individual commits an
offense
if: (1) he is legally married and he:
(A) purports
to marry or does marry a person
other than his spouse in this state, or
any other state or foreign
country, under circumstances that
would, but for the actor's prior
marriage, constitute a marriage; or
(B) lives with a person other than his spouse in
this state under the appearance of
being married; or
(2) he knows that a married person other than his
spouse is married and he:
(A) purports to marry or does marry that person
in this state, or any other state or
foreign country, under
circumstances that would, but for the
person's prior marriage,
constitute a marriage; or
(B) lives with that person in this state under
the appearance of being married.
(b) For
purposes of this section, "under the appearance of
being married" means holding out
that the parties are married with
cohabitation and an intent to be
married by either party.
(c) It
is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(1)
that the actor reasonably believed that
his marriage was void or had
been dissolved by death, divorce, or
annulment.
(d) For
the purposes of this section, the lawful wife or
husband of the actor may testify both
for or against the actor
concerning proof of the original
marriage.
(e) An
offense under this section is a Third Degree Felony.
Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399,
§ 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974
Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch.
900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1,
1994. Amended September 2005.
76-7-101. Bigamy -- Defense.
(1) A person is guilty of bigamy when, knowing
he has a husband or wife or knowing the other person has a husband or wife, the
person purports to marry another person or cohabits with another person.
(2)
Bigamy is a felony of the third degree.
(3) It shall be a defense to bigamy
that the accused reasonably believed he and the other person were legally
eligible to remarry.
Amended by Chapter 296, 1997 General Session
TITLE 13 Crimes and Criminal Procedure : PART 1 Crimes : CHAPTER 5. ADULTERY AND BIGAMY
§ 206. Bigamy.
A person having a husband or wife living who marries another person, or continues to cohabit with such second husband or wife in this state, shall be imprisoned not more than five years. This section shall not extend to a person whose husband or wife has been continually beyond the sea, or out of the state for seven consecutive years, the party marrying again not knowing the other to be living within that time; or to a person whose former marriage has been avoided by divorce or sentence of nullity, or was contracted under the age of consent and not afterwards assented to.
§ 208. Alleging marriage in bigamy prosecution.
In prosecutions for bigamy it shall be sufficient to allege in the information or indictment that, at the time of the second marriage, the respondent had a wife or husband living, without specifying the time or place of the former marriage or the name of the former husband or wife.
Virginia If any person, being married, shall, during
the life of the husband or wife, marry another person in this Commonwealth, or
if the marriage with such other person take place out of the Commonwealth,
shall thereafter cohabit with such other person in this Commonwealth, he or she
shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony. Venue for a violation of this section may
be in the county or city where the subsequent marriage occurred or where the
parties to the subsequent marriage cohabited. (Code 1950, § 20-41 ;
1975, cc. 14, 15; 2003, c. 99.) § 18.2-364. Exceptions to preceding
sections. Sections 18.2-362
and 18.2-363
shall not extend to a person whose husband or wife shall have been continuously
absent from such person for seven years next before marriage of such person to
another, and shall not have been known by such person to be living within that
time; nor to a person who can show that the second marriage was contracted in
good faith under a reasonable belief that the former consort was dead; nor to a
person who shall, at the time of the subsequent marriage, have been divorced
from the bond of the former marriage; nor to a person whose former marriage was
void. (Code 1950, § 20-42; 1975, cc. 14, 15.) § 18.2-363. Leaving Commonwealth to evade
law against bigamy. If any persons, resident in this
Commonwealth, one of whom has a husband or wife living, shall, with the
intention of returning to reside in this Commonwealth, go into another state or
country and there intermarry and return to and reside in this Commonwealth
cohabiting as man and wife, such marriage shall be governed by the same law, in
all respects, as if it had been solemnized in this Commonwealth.
VERMONT
§ 206. Bigamy
A person having a husband or wife living who marries another person, or continues to cohabit with such second husband or wife in this state, shall be imprisoned not more than five years. This section shall not extend to a person whose husband or wife has been continually beyond the sea, or out of the state for seven consecutive years, the party marrying again not knowing the other to be living within that time; or to a person whose former marriage has been avoided by divorce or sentence of nullity, or was contracted under the age of consent and not afterwards assented to. (Amended 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 15.)
West Virginia
Any person, being married, who, during the life of the former husband or wife,
shall marry another person in this state, or, if the marriage with such other
person take place out of this state, shall thereafter cohabit with such other
person in this state, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall
be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years.
HISTORY:
134 v H 511. Eff
Chapter 944, SUBCHAPTER II
Sexual crimes which affect the
family
944.05
Bigamy. (1) Whoever
does any of the following is
guilty of a Class I felony:
(a) Contracts a marriage in this
state with knowledge that his or her prior marriage is not dissolved; or
(b) Contracts a marriage in this
state with knowledge that the prior marriage of the person he or she marries is
not dissolved; or
(c) Cohabits in this state with a
person whom he or she married outside this state with knowledge that his or her
own prior marriage had not been dissolved or with knowledge that the prior
marriage of the person he or she married had not been dissolved.
(2) In this section “cohabit” means to
live together under the representation or appearance of being married.
History: 1977 c. 173; 1993 a. 486; 2001 a. 109.
Washington
RCW 9A.64.010
Bigamy.
(1) A
person is guilty of bigamy if he intentionally marries or purports to
marry another person when either person has a living spouse.
(2) In any prosecution under this section, it is a defense that at the
time of the subsequent marriage or purported marriage: (a) The actor reasonably believed that the prior spouse was dead; or (b) A court had entered a judgment purporting to terminate or annul any
prior disqualifying marriage and the actor did not know that such
judgment was invalid; or (c) The actor reasonably believed that he was legally eligible to marry.
(3) The limitation imposed by RCW 9A.04.080 on commencing a prosecution for bigamy does not begin to run until the
death of the prior or subsequent spouse of the actor or until a court
enters a judgment terminating or annulling the prior or subsequent
marriage.
(4) Bigamy is a class C felony.
[1986 c 257 § 14; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 § 9A.64.010).
Wyoming
Chapter 4 Articles 1-4
Bigamy is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, a fine
of not more than $5,000, or both.
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