{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-22-501","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 22-501","heading":"Bigamy.","body":"(a)\nWhoever, 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:\n(1)\nSpouse 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;\n(2)\nMarriage 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\n(3)\nDomestic partnership with said living domestic partner has been terminated in accordance with § 32-702(d), or § 16-904(e).\n\n(a-1)\nIn 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.\n\n(b)\nFor the purposes of this section, the term:\n(1)\n“Domestic partner” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 32-701(3).\n(2)\n“Domestic partnership” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 32-701(4).","path":["Title 22. Criminal Offenses and Penalties.","Chapter 5. Bigamy."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/22-501","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"f74a6ed053e30b8897827cee5366f36922ee94b19206b1d153443a0356b9ad65","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-22-408","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-22-601"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}