Bigamy is the act of marrying one person while being legally married to another. Polygamy is the practice or custom (often religious) of having more than one wife or husband at a time. Most states prohibit a party from having more than one marriage license at a time, and in most states bigamy is a crime.
In Utah, both bigamy and polygamy are illegal under state law. Bigamy is explicitly prohibited by Utah Code Section 76-7-101, which defines the offense as knowingly having a husband or wife while simultaneously being married to another person. It is classified as a felony in Utah. Historically, Utah has a unique background with polygamy due to its association with the early practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), although the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice in 1890. Despite this history, contemporary state law does not permit polygamous marriages. However, in 2020, Utah passed a law that effectively decriminalized polygamy among consenting adults, reducing it from a felony to an infraction, which is akin to a traffic ticket. This change in the law aimed to encourage individuals in polygamous communities to report crimes and abuse without fear of prosecution for polygamy itself.