Age of Consent & Romeo and Juliet Laws by State

Plain-English guides to the age of consent and close-in-age exemptions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Check my state How close-in-age rules work
  • 51 jurisdictions covered
  • Cited to the statute
  • Reviewed on a fixed cycle

Find your state

Age of consent is set state by state, not federally. Start with the jurisdiction where the conduct took place, which is not always where either person lives.

Not sure which applies? Work through the four questions that determine the answer.

The map view

Every jurisdiction laid out geographically. Select any tile to open that state guide.

  • Exemption / non-coverage
  • Defense / lesser charge
  • No verified provision
  • Varies by age, conduct, or role

51 jurisdictions

Scroll sideways to see every jurisdiction.

Colors provide a simplified overview. Rules can vary by age, conduct, relationship, and other facts. Open a state guide for the statute, exceptions, and source details.

The shape of the law

Four things worth knowing before you read any single state guide.

16 to 18

The range of ages of consent across the United States. There is no single national age for private conduct.

51

Jurisdictions that each set their own rule: 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

3

Ways a close-in-age rule can work: a full exemption, a defense raised at trial, or a reduced charge.

2 to 4

The age gap in years that most close-in-age provisions allow, though some run wider and many states have none at all.

Drawn from the codified statutes of each jurisdiction and from the federal survey published by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Counts of states with a close-in-age provision vary between sources because they disagree on whether a charge reduction alone should be counted as one.

Browse all 51 jurisdictions

Each guide covers the age of consent, whether a close-in-age provision exists, how that provision actually works, and the statute it comes from.

Start with the concepts

Four guides that make every state page easier to read.

What a Romeo and Juliet law actually is

The phrase is a nickname, not a legal term. It describes a close-in-age provision written into a state statutory rape law that treats consensual conduct between two people close in age differently from conduct between an adult and a child.

No two states write it the same way. The floor age, the permitted gap, and above all the mechanism differ everywhere, and the mechanism is what decides the practical outcome.

Read the guide

What actually decides the answer

Four facts determine whether a close-in-age provision applies. They have to be worked through in order, because each one can change what the next one means.

  1. Which state law governs

    The law of the place where the conduct happened controls, which is not always where either person lives. Travel across a state line, or contact that happened online, can bring a second body of law into the picture.

  2. The age of consent there

    Across the United States it sits between 16 and 18. Roughly thirty states use 16, about eight use 17, and around a dozen use 18. A short drive can change the answer completely.

  3. Both exact ages, and the gap

    Most close-in-age provisions set a minimum age for the younger person and a maximum gap between the two, commonly two to four years. A single birthday can move a situation from inside the provision to outside it.

  4. Whether anything aggravates it

    A position of authority such as a teacher, coach or supervisor, or any element of coercion or force, will typically remove the provision entirely even when the ages fit. So can a federal element.

This sequence is not a verdict. It is the order in which the facts have to be established before anyone can say what a statute means for a specific situation. It cannot account for the facts of your case, and it is not legal advice.
The mechanism matters most. A full exemption means the conduct was never an offense. A defense has to be raised in court by the person charged, which means an arrest and a prosecution can still happen first. Every state guide states which one applies before anything else.
Start with your state

Compare two states side by side

Age of consent, whether a close-in-age provision exists, which mechanism it uses, the gap it allows and whether it reaches registration, in one table.

Review log

Every guide carries the date it was last checked against the statute. Changes to the platform itself are recorded here so readers can see what has been verified and when.

  1. Editorial standards and source policy published

    The sourcing rule, the review cycle and the requirement to state a provision mechanism explicitly were fixed and made public before any state guide was written.

  2. Design system and accessibility standard published

    Colour, typography, contrast, focus behaviour and the legal status scale were set platform wide. Status is never carried by colour alone.

  3. Jurisdiction index opened

    All 51 jurisdictions are listed and navigable. Individual guides are published only once the statute citation has been checked against the official state source.

Questions readers ask first

The six that come up most often, answered without hedging.

What is a Romeo and Juliet law?

It is an informal name for a close-in-age provision: a rule inside a state statutory rape law that treats consensual conduct between two people close in age differently from conduct between an adult and a child.

The name is a nickname rather than a legal term, and no two states write the rule the same way.

Does every state have one?

No. Roughly half to two thirds of United States jurisdictions offer some form of close-in-age protection, and the exact count depends on what you are prepared to call one.

Some states write a genuine exemption into the offense itself. Others allow only a defense at trial. Others reduce a felony to a misdemeanor without removing the offense. Some have nothing.

If my state has one, does that mean the conduct is legal?

Not necessarily, and this is the most common and most costly misunderstanding on the subject.

A full exemption means the conduct was never an offense. An affirmative defense is different: it has to be raised in court by the person charged, which means an arrest, charges and a prosecution can all happen first. The distinction changes the outcome completely, so every state guide states which one applies before anything else.

Does a close-in-age provision stop sex offender registration?

Sometimes. Some states bar registration outright where the provision applies. Others leave it to the judge. Others do not address registration at all, which means a person can avoid a felony conviction and still face a registration requirement.

Registration is treated as a separate question from the charge in every guide, because it often has the longer consequence.

Can federal law apply even if my state rule allows it?

Yes. Federal statutes can apply independently where there is interstate travel, online communication, images, or conduct on federal property. Service members are covered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, whose text does not contain an explicit close-in-age defense.

A permissive state rule does not displace any of these.

Is anything on this site legal advice?

No. This platform publishes general educational information. It cannot account for the facts of a specific situation, and the law changes.

If you are facing an investigation or a charge, speak to a licensed attorney in the relevant state before saying anything to anyone.

How this platform is written

The standard is published before the content, so it can be held against every page on the site.

Primary sources first

Every legal statement traces to the statute itself or to the official state source that publishes it. Secondary commentary is used to locate the statute, never to stand in for it.

The mechanism is stated, never implied

Each guide says plainly whether a provision is an exemption, a defense or a charge reduction, because the practical consequence for a real person is entirely different in each case.

Dated, and checked again

Every guide carries the date it was last verified against the statute. Guides are reviewed on a fixed cycle and whenever a change is reported, and the date moves only when the check is actually done.

Plain English, and honest about limits

Written to be understood by a worried sixteen year old and by a parent reading at midnight. Where the law is unsettled or the answer depends on facts we cannot see, the guide says so rather than guessing.

Where the information comes from

The source types every state guide is built from, in the order they are relied on.