Cheating on Your Spouse? These States Could Send You to Jail. Before you go all the way, you should probably know your odds of spending time in jail.
Some states have deemed adultery illegal. The sentences for the crime vary across states.
In three of those states, an affair with a spouse’s partner is a felony.
States Where Cheating On Your Spouse Is A Misdemeanor
I’m going to guess you probably ended up reading this article because you either got caught cheating or you’ve been doing your own detective work and are ready to call someone out.
Either way, you should know how much the law and courts get involved in the issue varies wildly depending on where you live.
Before we look at the states with the harshest punishments, let’s first see the places where cheating on your spouse is a misdemeanor offense. These are the states that have classified adultery as a misdemeanor:
Alabama
Arizona
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Kansas
Maryland
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Virginia
At least one state could be removed from this list by the end of the year.
“For the past 117 years, adultery has had a place in New York’s penal code as a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail.”
There is a bill in a waiting list to be signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul before the end of 2024 to repeal the state’s adultery law.
This would make New York the third state in the last two years to retreat on its adultery position. Since 2022, both Idaho and Minnesota have struck off their laws pertaining to spouse cheating.
States That Criminalize Cheating On Your Spouse As A Felony
Other states are seemingly getting easy with the issue of adultery while three states consider adultery to be a serious matter after all.
Adultery is considered a felony offense in the following states:
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
For Michigan, Newsweek found the punishment for being convicted of adultery could mean a maximum of a $5,000 fine and five years in jail. Oklahoma also carries a maximum five-year jail sentence, but the fine tops out at $500.
Being convicted of cheating in Wisconsin, on the other hand, is going to hit you a lot harder in the wallet.
The state’s adultery law dates back to 1849 and views the act as a Class I felony. A conviction could mean a maximum of 3.5 years in prison and a whopping $10,000 maximum fine.
Perhaps it’s time to move to another state or, better yet, just end your current relationship before hooking up with someone else.
