Home/Bills/A 5265New York · 2025–2026 Legislative Session
Assembly BillIntroduced

A 5265: Provides that consent to sexual contact is a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants; makes related provisions.

New York · Assembly · 2025–2026 Legislative Session · last verified January 8, 2026

What A 5265 does, verified January 8, 2026

The bill aims to clarify the concept of consent in sexual encounters. Consent is defined as a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants. It can be given through words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear ongoing permission. Lack of consent is determined by certain circumstances, including: - Forcible compulsion, duress, coercion, or verbal withdrawal of previously granted consent - Incapacity to consent - Circumstances where the victim does not express or imply acquiescence in the actor's conduct - Clear expression of non-consent by the victim, which a reasonable person would understand as a lack of consent The bill also states that a victim's failure to resist or comply with an actor's conduct does not imply consent. The law will take effect thirty days after it becomes a law.

Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: referred to codes (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about A 5265
What is the current status of A 5265?
As of January 8, 2026, A 5265 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "referred to codes".
Did A 5265 pass?
Not yet. A 5265 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
Who wrote A 5265, and where is it now?
A 5265 was authored by Asm. Jo Anne Simon with 4 coauthors. Its committee of record is Assembly Codes.
Author and sponsors
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Coauthors
Nikki LucasMaritza DavilaMaryJane ShimskyAngelo Santabarbara
Recent actions2 total · showing 2
Jan. 07, 2026referred to codes
Feb. 12, 2025referred to codes
Latest bill textIntroduced version, February 12, 2025 · 406 words
  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5265 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 12, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, LUCAS, DAVILA, SHIMSKY, SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to consent The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 130.05 of the penal law, as 2 amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2000, paragraph (c) as amended by 3 chapter 264 of the laws of 2003 and paragraph (d) as amended by chapter 4 23 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 5 2. (a) Consent to sexual contact is a knowing, voluntary, and mutual 6 decision among all participants. Consent can be given by words or 7 actions, as long as those words or actions create clear ongoing permis- 8 sion regarding willingness to engage in the sexual activity. 9 (b) Lack of consent results from: 10 [(a)] (i) Forcible compulsion, duress, coercion, or verbal withdrawal 11 of previously granted consent; or 12 [(b)] (ii) Incapacity to consent; or 13 [(c)] (iii) Where the offense charged is sexual abuse or forcible 14 touching, any circumstances, in addition to forcible compulsion or inca- 15 pacity to consent, in which the victim does not expressly or impliedly 16 acquiesce in the actor's conduct; or 17 [(d)] (iv) Where the offense charged is rape in the third degree as 18 defined in subdivision seven, eight or nine of section 130.25, or a 19 crime formerly defined in subdivision three of section 130.40, in addi- 20 tion to forcible compulsion, circumstances under which, at the time of 21 the act of vaginal sexual contact, oral sexual contact or anal sexual 22 contact, the victim clearly expressed that [he or she] such victim did 23 not consent to engage in such act, and a reasonable person in the 24 actor's situation would have understood such person's words and acts as 25 an expression of lack of consent to such act under all the circum- 26 stances. 27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 28 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06496-02-5 
Text of A 5265 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions
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