Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (2026)
Adultery and fornication; unlawful cohabitation
✓ current as of July 2026
If any man and woman shall unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication, they shall be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars each, and imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months; and it shall not be necessary, to constitute the offense, that the parties shall dwell together publicly as husband and wife, but it may be proved by circumstances which show habitual sexual intercourse.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 64, art. 1(58); 1857, ch. 64, art. 8; 1871, § 2486; 1880, § 2700; 1892, § 953; 1906, § 1029; Hemingway's 1917, § 754; 1930, § 772; 1942, § 1998.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1988–2022 · leading case: Harrington v. Harrington, 648 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1994).
Harrington v. Harrington, 648 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1994). “Harrington's and Milam's actions violate Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1972). This section provides: If any man and woman shall unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication, they shall be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars each, and imprisoned in the…”
Fitch v. Valentine, 959 So. 2d 1012 (Miss. 2007). “See Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 et seq. The Legislature has not seen fit to join the throngs who say these are only "affairs of the heart," "flings," or "stepping out," as a means of attaching validity to such conduct.”
Phillipson v. State, 943 So. 2d 670 (Miss. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (Rev.2006). What Phillipson does not perceive is that this law is a prohibition on cohabitation that involves adultery or fornication.”
City of Sherman v. Henry, 928 S.W.2d 464 (Tex. 1996). “36 (1987); Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1973); Neb. Rev.”
Owens v. State, 724 A.2d 43 (Md. 1999). “34 (West 1987); Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1994); N.C. Gen.”
In Re Knapp, 536 So. 2d 1330 (Miss. 1988). “[11] Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1972). [12] This does not mean that Knapp may sit silently until the time of trial and then take the witness stand and waive the privilege by testifying in support of the claims and denials of his answer.”
Saunders v. Alford, 607 So. 2d 1214 (Miss. 1992). “" Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 , -3, -5, -7, -9 (1972).”
The Mississippi Dep't of Wildlife, Fisheries v. Gaylon Bradshaw, 196 So. 3d 1075 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016). “(quoting Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 ). ' “[U]nlawful cohabitation .”
Davis v. Davis, 643 So. 2d 931 (Miss. 1994). “To the contrary, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1972), cohabitation remains a crime against public morals and decency: If any man and woman shall unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication, they shall be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars…”
United States v. Luis Moreira Bravo, 56 F.4th 568 (8th Cir. 2022). “, Miss. Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (2022), and could have been charged for sodomy when Congress enacted the current -12- without peeking at the elements of the underlying sexual offense that happened to form the predicate for Moreira-Bravo’s conviction.”
Ganzy v. Allen Christian Sch., 995 F. Supp. 340 (E.D.N.Y 1998). “34 (West 1987); Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (1972); S.C.Code Ann.”
Dean v. Kavanaugh, 920 So. 2d 528 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 97-29-1 (Rev.2000). Furthermore, the existence of a common law marriage is not recognized as a marriage in Mississippi.”
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