Religious Liberty in the States Safeguards

Houses of Worship Protected from Closing

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, eighteen states passed statutes that prohibit governments from treating houses of worship differently than similarly situated businesses.

Click a column heading to sort by that column

State	Protected from Closing	Statute(s)	URL	Citation
Alabama	● Yes	§ 31-9-25	https://casetext.com/statute/code-of-alabama/title-31-military-affairs-and-civil-defense/chapter-9-emergency-management/article-1-alabama-emergency-management-act-of-1955/section-31-9-25-continued-operation-of-business-and-religious-entities-during-a-state-of-emergency-alabama-state-house-to-remain-open-to-public-while-legislature-in-session	§ 31-9-25
Alaska	○ No
Arizona	● Yes	§ 41-1495.01	https://www.azleg.gov/viewdocument/?docName=https://www.azleg.gov/ars/41/01495-01.htm	§ 41-1495.01
Arkansas	● Yes	§12-75-134	https://casetext.com/statute/arkansas-code-of-1987/title-12-law-enforcement-emergency-management-and-military-affairs/subtitle-5-emergency-management/chapter-75-arkansas-emergency-services-act-of-1973/subchapter-1-general-provisions/section-12-75-134-religious-organization-disaster-emergency-definitions?q=ACA%20%C2%A7%2012-75-134&sort=relevance&p=1&type=case&resultsNav=false	§12-75-134
California	○ No
Colorado	○ No
Connecticut	○ No
Delaware	○ No
Florida	● Yes	§252.64	http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0200-0299/0252/Sections/0252.64.html	§252.64
Georgia	○ No
Hawaii	○ No
Idaho	○ No
Illinois	○ No
Indiana	● Yes	10-14-3-12.5	https://iga.in.gov/laws/2024/ic/titles/10#10-14-3-12.5	10-14-3-12.5
Iowa	○ No
Kansas	○ No
Kentucky	● Yes	39A.100 (6)	https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52714	39A.100 (6)
Louisiana	● Yes	CONST Art. 12 §17	https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=1335847	CONST Art. 12 §17
Maine	○ No
Maryland	○ No
Massachusetts	○ No
Michigan	○ No
Minnesota	○ No
Mississippi	○ No
Missouri	○ No
Montana	● Yes	10-3-102 (2)	https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0100/chapter_0030/part_0010/section_0020/0100-0030-0010-0020.html	10-3-102 (2)
Nebraska	○ No
Nevada	○ No
New Hampshire	● Yes	§546-C:2	https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LV/546-C/546-C-2.htm	§546-C:2
New Jersey	○ No
New Mexico	○ No
New York	○ No
North Carolina	○ No
North Dakota	● Yes	§37-17.1-05 (10)	https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t37c17-1.pdf#nameddest=37-17p1-05	§37-17.1-05 (10)
Ohio	● Yes	§9.57	https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-9.57#:~:text=(A)%20Notwithstanding%20any%20contrary%20provision,geographic%20area%20of%20the%20state.	§9.57
Oklahoma	● Yes	51 §253	https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=104672	51 §253
Oregon	○ No
Pennsylvania	○ No
Rhode Island	○ No
South Carolina	● Yes	§1-33-20	https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t01c033.php	§1-33-20
South Dakota	○ No
Tennessee	● Yes	§58-2-107 (n)	Tennessee Code § 58-2-107 (2023) - Emergency management powers of the governor :: 2023 Tennessee Code :: U.S. Codes and Statutes :: U.S. Law :: Justia	Tennessee Code § 58-2-107 (2023) - Emergency management powers of the governor :: 2023 Tennessee Code :: U.S. Codes and Statutes :: U.S. Law :: Justia\|\|§58-2-107 (n)
Texas	● Yes	TX Const. Art. I §6-a	https://tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/TxConst.pdf	TX Const. Art. I §6-a
Utah	● Yes	§53-2a-218, §26A-1-114, §26A-1-121	https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title53/Chapter2A/53-2a-S219.html?v=C53-2a-S219_2021050520210505	§53-2a-218, §26A-1-114, §26A-1-121
Vermont	○ No
Virginia	● Yes	§ 44-146.17 (B)	https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title44/chapter3.2/section44-146.17/	§ 44-146.17 (B)
Washington	○ No
West Virginia	● Yes	§35-1A-1	https://code.wvlegislature.gov/35-1A-1/	§35-1A-1
Wisconsin	○ No
Wyoming	○ No

Note on citations:
Due to changes in online law databases and states’ websites, we cannot ensure that every link to a state law will be functional in perpetuity. If a link to a statute is no longer functional, please use a search engine to locate the state’s code and use the citation number to manually navigate to the relevant law. Where multiple laws are cited, the link is for the first law listed. For more information on citations, download the full data set which includes additional research notes.

All Safeguards