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Article 255 - NY Penal Law

• NY Laws ›
• Penal Law ›
• Part 3 ›
• Title O ›
• Article 255

S 255.00 Unlawfully solemnizing a marriage.
  A person is guilty of unlawfully solemnizing a marriage when:
  1. Knowing that he is not authorized by the laws of this state to do
so, he performs a marriage ceremony or presumes to solemnize a marriage;
or
  2. Being authorized by the laws of this state to perform marriage
ceremonies and to solemnize marriages, he performs a marriage ceremony
or solemnizes a marriage knowing that a legal impediment to such
marriage exists.
  Unlawfully solemnizing a marriage is a class A misdemeanor.

S 255.05 Unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree.
  A person is guilty of unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree when,
not being a judicial officer authorized to issue decrees of divorce or
annulment, he issues a written instrument reciting or certifying that he
or some other purportedly but not actually authorized person has issued
a valid decree of civil divorce, annulment or other dissolution of a
marriage.
  Unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree is a class A misdemeanor.

S 255.10 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license.
  A person is guilty of unlawfully procuring a marriage license when he
procures a license to marry another person at a time when he has a
living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.
  Unlawfully procuring a marriage license is a class A misdemeanor.

S 255.15 Bigamy.
  A person is guilty of bigamy when he contracts or purports to contract
a marriage with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or
the other person has a living spouse.
  Bigamy is a class E felony.

S 255.17 Adultery.
  A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse
with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other
person has a living spouse.
  Adultery is a class B misdemeanor.

S 255.20 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license, bigamy, adultery:defense.
  In any prosecution for unlawfully procuring a marriage license,
bigamy, or adultery, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant
acted under a reasonable belief that both he and the other person to the
marriage or prospective marriage or to the sexual intercourse, as the
case may be, were unmarried.

S 255.25 Incest in the third degree.
 A  person  is  guilty  of  incest  in  the third degree when he or she
marries or engages in sexual intercourse, oral sexual  conduct  or  anal
sexual  conduct  with a person whom he or she knows to be related to him
or her, whether through marriage or not,  as  an  ancestor,  descendant,
brother  or  sister  of either the whole or the half blood, uncle, aunt,
nephew or niece.
  Incest is a class E felony.

S 255.26 Incest in the second degree.
 A  person  is  guilty  of  incest  in the second degree when he or she
commits the crime of rape in the second degree, as  defined  in  section
130.30  of  this  part,  or criminal sexual act in the second degree, as
defined in section 130.45 of this part, against a person whom he or  she
knows  to  be related to him or her, whether through marriage or not, as
an ancestor, descendant, brother or sister of either the  whole  or  the
half blood, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.
  Incest is a class D felony.

S 255.27 Incest in the first degree.
 A  person  is  guilty  of  incest  in  the first degree when he or she
commits the crime of rape in the first degree, as defined in subdivision
three or four of section 130.35 of this part, or criminal sexual act  in
the  first  degree,  as  defined in subdivision three or four of section
130.50 of this part, against a person whom he or she knows to be related
to him or  her,  whether  through  marriage  or  not,  as  an  ancestor,
descendant,  brother or sister of either the whole or half blood, uncle,
aunt, nephew or niece.
  Incest is a class B felony.

S 255.30 Adultery and incest; corroboration.
  1. A person shall not be convicted of adultery or of an attempt to
commit adultery solely upon the testimony of the other party to the
adulterous act or attempted act, unsupported by other evidence tending
to establish that the defendant attempted to engage with the other party
in sexual intercourse, and that the defendant or the other party had a
living spouse at the time of the adulterous act or attempted act.
  2. A person shall not be convicted of incest or of an attempt to
commit incest solely upon the testimony of the other party unsupported
by other evidence tending to establish that the defendant married the
other party, or that the defendant was a relative of the other party of
a kind specified in section 255.25.

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