Virginia Code
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-365 (2026)
Adultery defined; penalty
✓ current as of May 2026
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Any person, being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any person not his or her spouse shall be guilty of adultery, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor.
Code 1950, §§18.1-187, 18.1-190; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 27
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1982–2025 · leading case: Suddarth v. Slane, 539 F. Supp. 612 (W.D. Va. 1982).
Suddarth v. Slane, 539 F. Supp. 612 (W.D. Va. 1982). “Terry, Suddarth admitted that the evidence supporting the Department’s charge that he had violated the adultery statute, Va.Code § 18.2-365, was true. Finally, at the hearing of August 31, 1978 before his grievance appeal panel, the following dialogue ensued: Q.”
Ingleson v. Burlington Med. Supplies, Inc., 141 F. Supp. 3d 579 (E.D. Va. 2015). “2-344, prohibiting fornication, and Va.Code § 18.2-365, prohibiting adultery.”
Roe v. Roe, 324 S.E.2d 691 (Va. 1985). “She points out that, as an illustration of the relative degree of abhorrence by which our society regards such conduct, adultery is a *728 class four misdemeanor in Virginia (Code § 18.2-365) which is seldom prosecuted, while the conduct inherent in the father’s relationship is…”
Couch v. Jabe, 737 F. Supp. 2d 561 (W.D. Va. 2010). “2-366), 8 adultery (Va. Code § 18.2-365), 9 polygamy (Va. Code § 18.”
Robinson v. Salvation Army, 791 S.E.2d 577 (Va. 2016). “Moreover, that question was posed and answered in the context of an allegation of adultery, under Code § 18.2-365, and lewd and lascivious cohabitation, under Code § 18.”
City of Sherman v. Henry, 928 S.W.2d 464 (Tex. 1996). “§ 76-7-103 (1990); Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-365 (1988); W. Va.Code § 61-8-3 (1989); Wis.”
Bottoms v. Bottoms, 444 S.E.2d 276 (Va. Ct. App. 1994). “See Code § 18.2-365. 14 Va. App. at 43, 414 S.”
Leitner v. Leitner, 11 Va. Cir. 281 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1988). “He refused to answer interrogatories 13, 14 and 15 claiming that he could be subject to prosecution for adultery pursuant to Va. Code § 18.2-365. Mrs. Leitner maintained that he waived his constitutional right by denying adultery and affirmatively alleging his faithfulness.”
Messiah v. Messiah, 17 Va. Cir. 365 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1989). “Complainant has alleged incidents involving adultery, the first occurring in December, 1985, and the second in March, 1989. With respect to Defendant’s alleged 1989 adultery, the Court notes that in Virginia, adultery is a Class Four misdemeanor punishable by a $100.”
United States v. Stapleton, 730 F. Supp. 1375 (W.D. Va. 1990). “See Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-365. Although adulterers are rarely prosecuted, the law is apparently still in force, given that the Virginia Supreme Court has just recently recognized the continuing validity of the companion provision making fornication, i.”
Glaze v. Glaze, 46 Va. Cir. 333 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1998). “It must be that definition, then, to which the Court is referring in the cases cited above: Any person, being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any person not his or her spouse shall be guilty of adultery, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor.…”
Cornelison v. DeWeese, 22 Va. Cir. 234 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1990). “2-347 (keeping, residing in or frequenting a bawdy place); and § 18.2-365 (adultery). I find the hazard of prosecution to which the DeWeeses are exposed for any claimed violation of the referenced statutes to be theoretical, remote and unlikely.”
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