Committee approves one-word change to bigamy statute to remove cohabitation criminalization

Senate Bill 13 was advanced out of the Judiciary Committee to the Committee of the Whole after sponsors and advocates described the measure as a narrow, one-word modernization that removes cohabitation language from the state bigamy statute.

Sponsor Senator Hendrickson said the bigamy statute (CRS 18-6-201) currently reaches beyond traditional bigamy (entering into multiple legal marriages) by criminalizing mere cohabitation with another adult while married to someone else. He argued that language can harm domestic-violence survivors who cannot safely pursue divorce, and can chill consensual nonmonogamous households and other marginalized living arrangements. To illustrate the statute's practical effects, the sponsor read a survivor letter describing a woman ('Em') who fled abuse, moved in with a new partner for safety, and then faced threats that her former spouse would pursue bigamy charges.

Legal advocates and community witnesses backed the change. Miss Norbert explained the cohabitation provision was added mid‑20th century and now criminalizes conduct beyond the plain meaning of bigamy; Erica Unger, a criminal-defense attorney, and Zee Williams of Bread and Roses Legal Center described instances where survivors and polyamorous families avoided reporting crimes or seeking services because of fear of prosecution under the statute. Jamie Frederick testified as a polyamorous community member and a survivor, saying the statute can trap people in abusive or unsafe situations when divorce is unaffordable or dangerous.

Senator Hendrickson moved the bill to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the committee voted 6–1 to advance the one‑word removal (Nora Wilson voted No).

What happens next: SB13 will be considered by the Committee of the Whole; the change is tightly scoped to remove cohabitation from the statutory definition of bigamy.