The statutes can be classified according to their following functions: 'advisory,' 'enabling' or 'appropriating,' 'regulatory,' and 'protective.' Advisory statutes establish task forces and guidelines that recommend strategies and precautions for slowing the spread of HIV. Enabling or appropriating legislation authorizes the provision of HIV-related education, counseling, treatment, care, and social support. Regulatory legislation focuses on case finding (screening, reporting, and contact tracing), inmate segregation, exclusion of infected persons from school or certain professions, isolation of infected persons, criminal penalties for the intentional sexual transmission of HIV, and the regulation of meeting places such as bathhouses. Protective legislation guards the civil liberties of infected persons, such as ensuring the confidentiality of health care information and the prohibition of discrimination in employment, housing, and insurance. State and Federal law should focus on all of the aforementioned functions if it is to deal adequately with problems attending HIV infection. 55 footnotes.