U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 1— GENERAL PROVISIONS

18 U.S.C. § 13

Laws of States adopted for areas within Federal jurisdiction

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(a) Whoever within or upon any of the places now existing or hereafter reserved or acquired as provided in section 7 of this title, or on, above, or below any portion of the territorial sea of the United States not within the jurisdiction of any State, Commonwealth, territory, possession, or district is guilty of any act or omission which, although not made punishable by any enactment of Congress, would be punishable if committed or omitted within the jurisdiction of the State, Territory, Possession, or District in which such place is situated, by the laws thereof in force at the time of such act or omission, shall be guilty of a like offense and subject to a like punishment.(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and for purposes of subsection (a) of this section, that which may or shall be imposed through judicial or administrative action under the law of a State, territory, possession, or district, for a conviction for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a drug or alcohol, shall be considered to be a punishment provided by that law. Any limitation on the right or privilege to operate a motor vehicle imposed under this subsection shall apply only to the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.(2)(A) In addition to any term of imprisonment provided for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a drug or alcohol imposed under the law of a State, territory, possession, or district, the punishment for such an offense under this section shall include an additional term of imprisonment of not more than 1 year, or if serious bodily injury of a minor is caused, not more than 5 years, or if death of a minor is caused, not more than 10 years, and an additional fine under this title, or both, if—(i) a minor (other than the offender) was present in the motor vehicle when the offense was committed; and(ii) the law of the State, territory, possession, or district in which the offense occurred does not provide an additional term of imprisonment under the circumstances described in clause (i).(B) For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the term “minor” means a person less than 18 years of age.(c) Whenever any waters of the territorial sea of the United States lie outside the territory of any State, Commonwealth, territory, possession, or district, such waters (including the airspace above and the seabed and subsoil below, and artificial islands and fixed structures erected thereon) shall be deemed, for purposes of subsection (a), to lie within the area of the State, Commonwealth, territory, possession, or district that it would lie within if the boundaries of such State, Commonwealth, territory, possession, or district were extended seaward to the outer limit of the territorial sea of the United States.(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 686; Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, § 6477(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4381; Pub. L. 103–322, title X, § 100002, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1996; Pub. L. 104–132, title IX, § 901(b), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1317; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(b)(32), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3508.)Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 468 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 289, 35 Stat. 1145; June 15, 1933, ch. 85, 48 Stat. 152; June 20, 1935, ch. 284, 49 Stat. 394; June 6, 1940, ch. 241, 54 Stat. 234).

Act March 4, 1909, § 289 used the words “now in force” when referring to the laws of any State, organized Territory or district, to be considered in force.

As amended on June 15, 1933, the words “by the laws thereof in force on June 1, 1933, and remaining in force at the time of the doing or omitting the doing of such act or thing, would be penal,” were used.

The amendment of June 20, 1935, extended the date to “April 1, 1935,” and the amendment of June 6, 1940, extended the date to “February 1, 1940”.

The revised section omits the specification of any date as unnecessary in a revision, which speaks from the date of its enactment. Such omission will not only make effective within Federal reservations, the local State laws in force on the date of the enactment of the revision, but will authorize the Federal courts to apply the same measuring stick to such offenses as is applied in the adjoining State under future changes of the State law and will make unnecessary periodic pro forma amendments of this section to keep abreast of changes of local laws. In other words, the revised section makes applicable to offenses committed on such reservations, the law of the place that would govern if the reservation had not been ceded to the United States.

The word “Possession” was inserted to clarify scope of section.

Minor changes were made in phraseology.

Editorial NotesAmendments

1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–132, § 901(b)(1), inserted “or on, above, or below any portion of the territorial sea of the United States not within the jurisdiction of any State, Commonwealth, territory, possession, or district” after “section 7 of this title,”.

Subsec. (b)(2)(A). Pub. L. 104–294 substituted “under this title” for “of not more than $1,000”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–132, § 901(b)(2), added subsec. (c).

1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322 designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “Subject to paragraph (2) and for purposes” for “For purposes”, and added par. (2).

1988—Pub. L. 100–690 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1996 Amendment

Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(d), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3509, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [amending this section, sections 36, 112, 113, 241, 242, 245, 351, 511, 542, 544, 545, 668, 704, 709, 794, 1014, 1030, 1112, 1169, 1512, 1515, 1516, 1751, 1956, 1961, 2114, 2311, 2339A, 2423, 2511, 2512, 2721, 3059A, 3561, 3582, 3592, and 5037 of this title, section 802 of Title 21, Food and Drugs, sections 540A and 991 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, and sections 3631, 5633, 10604, and 14011 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and amending provisions set out as notes under sections 1001, 1169, and 2325 of this title and section 994 of Title 28] shall take effect on the date of enactment of Public Law 103–322 [Sept. 13, 1994].”

Executive DocumentsTerritorial Sea of United States

For extension of territorial sea of United States, see Proc. No. 5928, set out as a note under section 1331 of Title 43, Public Lands.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 948 cases (48 in the last 5 years), 1948–2026 · leading case: United States v. Key
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United States v. Key (2010) ca5 · cites it 20× “08 ("Intoxication Manslaughter"), assimilated through the Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 13 . Key pled guilty, without a plea agreement.”
Lewis v. United States (1998) scotus · cites it 14× “" 18 U. S. C. § 13 (a). The question in this case is whether the ACA makes applicable on a federal Army base located in Louisiana a state first-degree murder statute that defines first-degree murder to include the "killing of a human being .”
United States v. Christie (2013) ca10 · cites it 10× “It’s clear to us that the district court had to dismiss the assimilated charges as a matter of law after trial for two separate but related reasons: the first grounded in the statutory commands of the Assimilative Crimes Act (ACA), 18 U.S.C. § 13 , and the second based on our…”
United States v. Wilfredo Lopez (2021) ca9 · cites it 5× “15(a)(1) as the predicate for his Section 2422(b) violation, because the sexual activity he proposed was to take place on Anderson Air Force Base, a place within the Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States, and that crime is not assimilated under the…”
United States v. Carolyn Jackson (2017) ca3 · cites it 8× “18 U.S.C. § 13 (a). This statute, which in its original form dates back to the 1820s, is designed to borrow state laws in order to fill gaps that exist in federal criminal laws with respect to criminal offenses that are committed on federal enclaves.”
United States v. Gabrion (2008) ca6 · cites it 10× “Accordingly, a federal district court had subject-matter jurisdiction over a prosecution for Jeromy Raffield's drunk driving and refusal to submit to a breath analysis in violation *861 of the Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 13 . While the Fourth Circuit held that 16 U.”
United States v. Harvey M. Renville (1985) ca8 · cites it 5× “Harvey Renville was convicted by a jury of two counts of sexual abuse of his eleven year old stepdaughter under 18 U.S.C. §§ 13 , 1152 (1982), and S.D. Codified Laws Ann.”
United States v. Victor Reza-Ramos (2016) ca9 · cites it 6× “Because the murder occurred on an Indian reservation, the indictment cited 18 U.S.C. §§ 13 (a), 1111(a), 1151, and 1152.”
Luna Torres v. Lynch (2016) scotus · cites it 2× “The Assimilative Crimes Act (ACA), 18 U.S.C. § 13 (a), subjects federal enclaves, like military bases, to state criminal laws except when they punish the same conduct as a federal statute.”
United States v. Sharpnack (1958) scotus · cites it 8× “The issue in this case is whether the Assimilative Crimes Act of 1948, 18 U. S. C. § 13 , is constitutional insofar as it makes applicable to a federal enclave a subsequently enacted criminal law of the State in which the enclave is situated.”
Kenneth W. Martin v. John P. Malhoyt, John Doe(s) Shirley Ann Stevens v. David H. Stover, John Doe (1987) cadc · cites it 4× “§ 13 (Persons committing, on United States property, “any act or omission which, although not made punishable by any enactment of Congress, would be punishable if committed or omitted within the jurisdiction of the State ... in which such [property] is situated, by the laws…”
United States v. David P. Gnirke (2015) ca9 · cites it 4× “18 U.S.C. § 13 . UNITED STATES V. GNIRKE 5 The evaluation contained a diagnosis of pedophilia and antisocial personality disorder.”
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— 18 U.S.C. § 13(a) — 2 cases
Lewis v. United States (1998) scotus “" 18 U. S. C. § 13 (a). The question in this case is whether the ACA makes applicable on a federal Army base located in Louisiana a state first-degree murder statute that defines first-degree murder to include the "killing of a human being .”
United States v. Tate (1997) ca4
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.