Florida STD Laws: Criminal Penalties, Civil Suits, and Confidentiality

Florida STD laws make it a crime to have sexual intercourse while knowingly carrying certain sexually transmissible diseases without first telling your partner and getting their consent. Penalties run from a first-degree misdemeanor for most infections up to a first-degree felony carrying as much as 30 years in prison for a repeat HIV offense. Separately, a person who was infected can bring a civil lawsuit against the person who transmitted the disease and recover money for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Which Diseases Are Covered by the Criminal Statute

The criminal law applies only to a specific list of infections: gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, genital herpes, chancroid, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, nongonococcal urethritis, and pelvic inflammatory disease.¹ HIV is addressed separately, with much stiffer penalties. If a condition is sexually transmitted but not on that list, the criminal statute does not reach it, though a civil lawsuit may still be possible.

Misdemeanor Penalties for Non-HIV Infections

Knowingly having intercourse with any of the listed non-HIV infections, without disclosure and consent, is a first-degree misdemeanor.² The maximum sentence is one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.³

Felony Penalties for HIV

HIV is treated far more severely. A first offense of knowingly having intercourse while HIV-positive, without informing the other person and receiving consent, is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison and a $5,000 fine.²³

A second or subsequent HIV violation becomes a first-degree felony, exposing the defendant to as much as 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.² That is sentencing exposure on par with many violent felonies.

What the State Has to Prove

A conviction requires two things, both of them. The state must show the defendant knew they carried the infection, and that a medical professional or health authority had informed them the disease can spread through sexual intercourse.¹ Someone who was never formally diagnosed, or who was diagnosed but never counseled about transmissibility, has not met the statutory threshold. In practice a diagnosing provider usually explains transmission during the same visit, so both elements are typically satisfied together.

The statute also gives a complete defense when the partner was told about the infection and agreed to intercourse anyway. Consent does not have to be written or documented in any particular form.

Suing in Civil Court After Being Infected

Criminal charges are the state’s decision. A person who contracted the disease can bring their own civil lawsuit for money damages, and Florida courts have recognized negligent STD transmission as an ordinary negligence claim independent of the criminal statute.

The two most common theories are negligence and battery. A negligence claim generally requires showing the infected person knew about their condition and did not disclose it. There is an important wrinkle for HPV specifically: in the leading Florida appellate case, the court held that a plaintiff must prove the defendant had actual knowledge of the HPV infection, and allegations of risky behavior or generalized exposure were not enough. For STDs where diagnosis is more clear-cut, actual knowledge through a formal diagnosis remains the strongest foundation for a claim.

A successful plaintiff can recover:

Medical costs, including testing, treatment, medication, and ongoing care.
Lost wages during treatment or recovery.
Pain and suffering, covering physical discomfort, emotional distress, and the impact on relationships and quality of life.

How Long You Have to File

Florida sets short deadlines, and the applicable one depends on how the claim is framed. A negligence-based claim must be filed within two years of the injury.⁴ That window is the result of Florida’s 2023 tort reform, which halved the prior four-year period for claims arising on or after March 24, 2023.

An intentional tort like battery carries a four-year deadline.⁴ The distinction matters because some STDs have long latency periods and may not be discovered until months or years after exposure. Florida applies a discovery rule to certain categories of claims like medical malpractice, but its availability for ordinary STD transmission cases is less settled. Anyone who suspects they contracted an STD from a partner should talk with an attorney sooner rather than later to avoid losing the right to sue.

Confidentiality of STD Records

All STD-related records held by the Florida Department of Health are strictly confidential and exempt from the state’s public records law. The department cannot release identifying information, and neither can a court or the parties to a lawsuit who obtain the information through a subpoena, except in a handful of narrow situations.⁵ Those exceptions are:

Consent from every person the information pertains to.
Statistical use where no individual can be identified.
Disclosure to medical personnel, public health agencies, or courts enforcing Florida’s STD or HIV laws.
Medical emergencies, only to the extent necessary to protect health or life.
Disclosures required under Florida’s child abuse or vulnerable-adult protection laws.

When STD information does come out through a subpoena, the court has to seal it from further disclosure unless the judge decides disclosure is necessary to reach a decision.⁵

HIV testing has an extra layer of protection under a separate statute. The identity of anyone who takes an HIV test and the results are both confidential and exempt from public records, and no one who learns of a result through authorized channels may pass it along except to a defined list of recipients, such as the test subject, their healthcare providers, the Department of Health, and others involved in direct medical care or court-ordered access. A general medical records release does not authorize sharing HIV test results; a separate written consent is required, and anyone who receives the information has to be given written notice that further disclosure is prohibited.⁶

Minors are protected too. They can seek STD testing and treatment without parental consent, and the fact of the visit, examination, or treatment cannot be revealed to parents or guardians through any means, including billing statements.⁷

Penalties for Breaching STD Confidentiality

Violating the confidentiality rules in Florida’s STD statutes is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, and the same classification applies to violating the HIV testing confidentiality provisions.²⁶

The penalties climb sharply for malicious conduct. Anyone who obtains information identifying a person with an STD, including HIV, and knowingly or recklessly shares it, especially for monetary gain, commits a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.² The same felony classification applies under the HIV testing statute for malicious dissemination of test results, and spreading false information that someone has an STD is also a third-degree felony.⁶

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 384.24 – Unlawful Acts
2
FindLaw. Florida Code 384.34 – Penalties
3
Justia Law. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties, Applicability of Sentencing Structures
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property
5
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 384.29 – Confidentiality
6
Justia Law. Florida Code 381.004 – HIV Testing
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 384.30 – Minors Consent to Treatment