§ 22-501 — Bigamy.

District of Columbia § 22-501

• Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
• Title 22: Criminal Offenses and Penalties.
• Ch. 5: Bigamy.

Text

(a) Whoever, having a spouse or domestic partner living, marries or enters a domestic partnership with another shall be deemed guilty of bigamy, and on conviction thereof shall suffer imprisonment for not less than 2 nor more than 7 years; provided, that this section shall not apply to any person whose:

(1) Spouse or domestic partner has been continually absent for 5 successive years next before such marriage or domestic partnership without being known to such person to be living within that time;

(2) Marriage to said living spouse shall have been dissolved by a valid decree of a competent court, or shall have been pronounced void by a valid decree of a competent court on the ground of the nullity of the marriage contract; or

(3) Domestic partnership with said living domestic partner has been terminated in accordance with § 32-702(d) , or § 16-904(e) .

(a-1) In addition to any other penalty provided under this section, a person may be fined an amount not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 .

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term:

(1) “Domestic partner” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 32-701(3) .

(2) “Domestic partnership” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 32-701(4) .

Legislative History

Mar. 3, 1901, 31 Stat. 1331, ch. 854, § 870; Sept. 12, 2008, D.C. Law 17-231, § 23(a), 55 DCR 6758; June 11, 2013, D.C. Law 19-317, § 303(q), 60 DCR 2064; Apr. 9, 2016, D.C. Law 21-105, § 4(), 63 DCR 217