Title 22, Criminal Offenses and Penalties.

All prosecutions for violations of § 22-1321 or any of the provisions of any of the laws or ordinances provided for by this act shall be conducted in the name of and for the benefit of the District of Columbia, and in the same manner as provided by law for the prosecution of offe…

Whoever threatens within the District of Columbia to kidnap any person or to injure the person of another or physically damage the property of any person or of another person, in whole or in part, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned not…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process” means the use or threatened use of law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, to exert p…

(a) It is unlawful for an individual or a business knowingly to use coercion to cause a person to provide labor or services. (b) It is unlawful for an individual or a business knowingly to place or keep any person in debt bondage.

It is unlawful for an individual or a business to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, or maintain by any means a person, knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact that: (1) Coercion will be used or is being used to cause the person to provide labor or service…

(a) It is unlawful for an individual or a business knowingly to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, or maintain by any means a person who will be caused as a result to engage in a commercial sex act knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the person has…

It is unlawful for an individual or business knowingly to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess any actual or purported government identification document, including a passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported document, of any person to p…

It is unlawful for an individual or business knowingly to benefit, financially or by receiving anything of value, from voluntarily participating in a venture which has engaged in any act in violation of § 22-1832, § 22-1833, § 22-1834, or § 22-1835, knowing or in reckless disrega…

(a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, whoever violates § 22-1832, § 22-1833, or § 22-1834 shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. (2) Whoever violates sections § 22-1832, § 22-1833…

(a) In imposing sentence on any individual or business convicted of a violation of this chapter, the court shall order, in addition to any sentence imposed, that the individual or business shall forfeit to the District of Columbia: (1) Any interest in any property, real or person…

In a criminal case in which a person is accused of trafficking in commercial sex, as prohibited by § 22-1833, sex trafficking of children, as prohibited by § 22-1834, or benefitting financially from human trafficking, as prohibited by § 22-1836, reputation or opinion evidence of …

(a) An individual who is a victim of an offense prohibited by § 22-1832, § 22-1833, § 22-1834, § 22-1835 or § 22-1836 may bring a civil action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The court may award actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive…

(a) The Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”), the Child and Family Services Agency (“CFSA”), and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (“DYRS”) shall provide training on human trafficking to: (1) New law enforcement officers, social workers, and case managers; and (2)…

If any person in the District related to another person within and not including the fourth degree of consanguinity, computed according to the rules of the Roman or civil law, shall marry or cohabit with or have sexual intercourse with such other so-related person, knowing him or…

(a) It shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly disconnect, damage, disable, temporarily or permanently remove, or use physical force or intimidation to block access to any telephone, radio, computer, or other electronic communication device with a purpose to obstruct, prevent…

Whoever shall be guilty of, or of aiding or abetting in, seizing, confining, inveigling, enticing, decoying, kidnapping, abducting, concealing, or carrying away any individual by any means whatsoever, and holding or detaining, or with the intent to hold or detain, such individual…

Whoever, being of sound memory and discretion, kills another purposely, either of deliberate and premeditated malice or by means of poison, or in perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate an offense punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, or without purpose to do so kills …

Whoever maliciously places an obstruction upon a railroad or street railroad, or displaces or injures anything appertaining thereto, or does any other act with intent to endanger the passage of any locomotive or car, and thereby occasions the death of another, is guilty of murder…

Whoever with malice aforethought, except as provided in §§ 22-2101, 22-2102, kills another, is guilty of murder in the second degree. For purposes of imprisonment following revocation of release authorized by § 24-403.01(b)(7), murder in the second degree is a Class A felony.

(a) The punishment for murder in the first degree shall be not less than 30 years nor more than life imprisonment without release, except that the court may impose a prison sentence in excess of 60 years only in accordance with § 22-2104.01 or § 24-403.01(b-2). The prosecution sh…

(a) If a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree, and if the prosecution has given the notice required under § 22-2104(a), a separate sentencing procedure shall be conducted as soon as practicable after the trial has been completed to determine whether to impose a se…

Whoever is guilty of manslaughter shall be sentenced to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 30 years. In addition to any other penalty provided under this section, a person may be fined an amount not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01.

(a) Whoever, with deliberate and premeditated malice, and with knowledge or reason to know that the victim is a law enforcement officer or public safety employee, kills any law enforcement officer or public safety employee engaged in, or on account of, the performance of such off…

(a) Whoever is guilty of soliciting a murder, whether or not such murder occurs, shall be sentenced to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 20 years, a fine not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both. (b) Whoever is guilty of soliciting a crime of violence as d…

(a)(1) It shall be unlawful in the District of Columbia for a person knowingly: (A) To sell, deliver, distribute, or provide, or offer or agree to sell, deliver, distribute, or provide any obscene, indecent, or filthy writing, picture, sound recording, or other article or represe…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Aggressive manner” means: (A) Approaching, speaking to, or following a person in a manner as would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm or the commission of a criminal act upon the person, or upon property in the person’s …

(a) No person may ask, beg, or solicit alms, including money and other things of value, in an aggressive manner in any place open to the general public, including sidewalks, streets, alleys, driveways, parking lots, parks, plazas, buildings, doorways and entrances to buildings, a…

Acts authorized as an exercise of a person’s constitutional right to picket, protest, or speak, and acts authorized by a permit issued by the District of Columbia government shall not constitute unlawful activity under this chapter.

(a) Any person convicted of violating any provision of § 22-2302 shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or be imprisoned not more than 90 days or both. (b) In lieu of or in addition to the penalty provided in subsection (a) of this section, a person con…

Prosecutions for violations of this chapter shall be conducted in the name of the District of Columbia by the Corporation Counsel.

Any arrest or conviction under this chapter shall be disclosed to public and private social service agencies that request the Metropolitan Police Department or the court to be notified of such events.

(a) A person commits the offense of perjury if: (1) Having taken an oath or affirmation before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in a case in which the law authorized such oath or affirmation to be administered, that he or she will testify, declare, depose, or certify tru…

A person commits the offense of subornation of perjury if that person wilfully procures another to commit perjury. Any person convicted of subornation of perjury shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

(a) A person commits the offense of false swearing if under oath or affirmation he or she wilfully makes a false statement, in writing, that is in fact material and the statement is one which is required by law to be sworn or affirmed before a notary public or other person author…

(a) A person commits the offense of making false statements if that person wilfully makes a false statement that is in fact material, in writing, directly or indirectly, to any instrumentality of the District of Columbia government, under circumstances in which the statement coul…

No person shall have in his or her possession in the District any instrument, tool, or implement for picking locks or pockets, with the intent to use such instrument, tool, or implement to commit a crime. Whoever violates this section shall be imprisoned for not more than 180 day…

(a) No person shall escape or attempt to escape from: (1) Any penal or correctional institution or facility in which that person is confined pursuant to an order issued by a court of the District of Columbia; (2) The lawful custody of an officer or employee of the District of Col…

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Cellular telephone or other portable communication device and accessories thereto” means any device carried, worn, or stored that is designed, intended, or readily converted to create, receive or transmit oral or written message…

(a) Except as authorized by law, the Mayor, the Director of the Department of Corrections, or the Director of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, it is unlawful to: (1) Knowingly bring Class A, Class B, or Class C contraband into or upon the grounds of a penal instit…

(a) A person convicted of violating this subchapter with regard to Class A contraband shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both. (b) A person convicted of violating this subchapter with regard to Class B cont…

Any person who, being lawfully upon the grounds of the penal institution, introduces or attempts to introduce contraband prohibited by § 22-2603.02(a) may be taken into custody by the warden and detained for not more than 2 hours, pending surrender to a police officer with the Me…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, it is unlawful for any person to engage in prostitution or to solicit for prostitution. (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a person convicted of prostitution or soliciting for prostitution shall…

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Arranging for prostitution” means any act to procure or attempt to procure or otherwise arrange for the purpose of prostitution, regardless of whether such procurement or arrangement occurred or anything of value was given or re…

The court may impose conditions upon any person found guilty under § 22-2701, and so long as such person shall comply therewith to the satisfaction of the court the imposition or execution of sentence may be suspended for such period as the court may direct; and the court may at …

(a) It is unlawful for any person, for purposes of prostitution, to: (1) Persuade, entice, or forcibly abduct a child under 18 years of age from his or her home or usual abode, or from the custody and control of the child’s parents or guardian; or (2) Secrete or harbor any child …

(a) It is unlawful for any person, within the District of Columbia to: (1) Place or cause, induce, entice, procure, or compel the placing of any individual in the charge or custody of any other person, or in a house of prostitution, with intent that such individual shall engage i…