Federal and State Obscenity Statutes

Disclaimer: This page provides copies of the texts various state obscenity and related laws, as found on their official Web sites. The NOLC recommends that this information be used as a starting point for researching obscenity and related laws. The links provided are not exchaustive on all topics related to obscenity. Since legislation is constantly in flux, changes to the codified statutes will occur. It is our intention to remain current but if a statute is updated, please email us so that we may make the appropraite corrections.

Note: When you click on the links below, a new browser window will open on the particular state's web site. Clicking on another state will open another new window, and so on. However, if you click on an item in a state with a window already open, that same window will refresh with the new link.


Federal Obscenity Laws

United States Code, Title 18, Chapter 71, Sections 1460-1470
(PDF document; 178 KB)


State Obscenity Laws

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


Alaska
Alaska does not have an obscenity law.

Hawaii
Hawaii does not have an obscenity statute.

Kentucky
Title L, Chapter 531, Sections .010 to .060

Montana
Montana does not have an obscenity law.

New Mexico
New Mexico does not have an obscenity law.

Oregon
Oregon does not have an obscenity law.

Vermont
Vermont does not have an obscenity law.

West Virginia
West Virginia does not have an obscenity law.