An Assault 2 charge with a Domestic Violence designation in Washington State carries penalties that start with up to ten years in prison and a $20,000 fine and expand outward from there: it is a Class B felony, it counts as a strike under the Persistent Offender Accountability Act, and a conviction triggers a permanent federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition. The DV label is not a separate crime. It attaches to the underlying assault and changes how the case is handled at every stage — pretrial conditions, the way prior convictions are scored, and the obligations that follow a conviction.
What the DV Designation Changes
The DV tag applies when the alleged assault involves a qualifying relationship. Washington defines that in two groups: family or household members (current or former spouses, people who share a child, adults related by blood or marriage, and people sixteen or older who currently or previously lived together), and people in or previously in a dating relationship.1Washington State Legislature. RCW 10.99.020 – Definitions The definitions are gender-neutral.
The most consequential effect of the tag lives inside sentencing math. When the DV designation is pleaded and proven, prior DV-related felony convictions for a specific list of serious offenses — Assault 1, Assault 2, Assault 3, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, and felony violation of a protection order — each count as two points toward the offender score instead of one.2Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.525 – Offender Score Two points versus one can push a defendant into a much higher sentencing range on the grid.
Prison Range Under the Sentencing Grid
Assault 2 is a Class B felony with a ten-year statutory maximum and a $20,000 maximum fine.3Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.20.021 – Maximum Sentences for Crimes Committed July 1, 1984, and After Judges do not pick a number freely inside that range. Washington’s Sentencing Reform Act assigns each offense a seriousness level, and the actual range depends on that level combined with the defendant’s offender score.
Assault 2 sits at Seriousness Level IV. The standard ranges:4Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.510 – Sentencing Grid
- Offender Score 0: 3 to 9 months
- Offender Score 1: 6 to 12 months
- Offender Score 2: 12+ to 14 months
- Offender Score 3: 13 to 17 months
- Offender Score 4: 15 to 20 months
- Offender Score 5: 22 to 29 months
- Offender Score 6: 33 to 43 months
- Offender Score 7: 43 to 57 months
- Offender Score 8: 53 to 70 months
- Offender Score 9+: 63 to 84 months
Because Assault 2 is itself a violent offense, each prior adult violent felony counts as two points, and each prior nonviolent felony counts as one. Combined with the DV multiplier on qualifying prior DV felonies, an offender score climbs fast. Two prior violent felonies alone put a defendant at Score 4, where the range starts at 15 to 20 months rather than 3 to 9.2Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.525 – Offender Score
Deadly Weapon Enhancements Stack On Top
If the assault involved a firearm or other deadly weapon, a mandatory enhancement is added to the base sentence. Enhancements are served in full, in prison, and consecutively — after the base sentence, not concurrently with it.
- Firearm: three additional years for a Class B felony. If the defendant has any prior deadly weapon enhancement, the firearm enhancement doubles to six years.
- Other deadly weapon (knife, bat, vehicle, and similar instruments): one additional year for a Class B felony, doubling to two years with a prior weapon enhancement.
Judges have no discretion to reduce or waive these enhancements.5Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.533 – Adjustments to the Standard Sentence Range For a first-time defendant whose assault involved a firearm, the effective sentence goes from 3 to 9 months up to 3 to 9 months plus a mandatory 36 months — well over three years in prison.
A Strike Under the Three-Strikes Law
Assault 2 is classified as a “most serious offense” under Washington law, commonly called a strike.6Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.030 – Definitions A person convicted of three most serious offenses receives a mandatory life sentence without possibility of release under the Persistent Offender Accountability Act. Even a single strike changes the calculus for every future case, because prosecutors and defense attorneys both know the stakes escalate with each qualifying conviction.
What Conduct Falls Under Assault 2
Any one of several acts is enough for the charge. Intentionally assaulting someone and recklessly causing substantial bodily harm — a fracture, temporary but substantial disfigurement, or temporary loss or impairment of a body part or organ — qualifies. So does assaulting someone with a deadly weapon, which includes any firearm loaded or not, and can include knives, bottles, or vehicles depending on the circumstances; physical contact is not required, and threatening with the weapon can be enough. Strangulation or suffocation — compressing the neck to obstruct blood flow or breathing, or blocking the nose and mouth — is a distinct pathway and one of the most commonly charged bases in DV cases. Poisoning, assault committed with intent to commit another felony, and knowingly inflicting pain equivalent to torture all fall inside the same statute.7Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.36.021 – Assault in the Second Degree Every pathway lands at the same place: a Class B felony.
Pretrial No-Contact Orders and Firearm Surrender
After an arrest, the court will almost certainly issue a pretrial no-contact order prohibiting any direct or indirect contact with the alleged victim: no calls, texts, emails, messages through third parties, or social media contact. Expect to be ordered out of a shared home and away from the victim’s residence, workplace, and school.8Washington State Legislature. RCW 10.99.040 – Duties of Court, No-Contact Order, Emergency Orders The court can issue it without notice or a hearing, and it stays in place for the life of the case, which for a felony can run many months. Violating the order is a separate crime, even if the protected person invites the contact. The defendant alone carries the compliance burden.
Washington law also requires the court to order surrender of all firearms and any concealed pistol license when it issues a protective or no-contact order. Firearms go to local law enforcement, a licensed dealer, or a court-approved third party who does not live with the defendant. The surrender deadline cannot be later than twenty-four hours after the order is served, and within five judicial days the defendant must file either proof of surrender or a declaration of non-surrender with the court clerk.9Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.800 – Surrender of Weapons or Licenses, Prohibition on Future Possession or Licensing Failing to turn over firearms, or understating how many you own, can generate additional felony charges. Enforcement is more aggressive than most defendants assume.
Permanent Federal Firearm Ban After Conviction
Beyond the state surrender requirements during the case, a conviction triggers a lifetime federal firearm prohibition. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving any firearm or ammunition.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Assault 2, with a ten-year maximum, falls squarely inside that prohibition. The ban is permanent, applies nationwide, has no exception for hunting rifles or antique firearms, and does not expire when a sentence ends. Violating it is a separate federal felony.
Immigration Exposure for Non-Citizens
Federal immigration law makes any non-citizen deportable on conviction of a “crime of domestic violence,” defined as a crime of violence against a current or former spouse, someone the defendant shares a child with, a current or former cohabitant, or anyone else protected under domestic or family violence laws.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Assault 2 DV fits that definition. The conviction can also block naturalization, prevent re-entry after travel, and result in denial or non-renewal of work authorization. If the offense is classified as an aggravated felony under immigration law, which is possible given the potential sentence, almost no immigration relief remains available. A plea that looks favorable in criminal court can be catastrophic in immigration court, so any non-citizen facing this charge needs an immigration attorney alongside criminal counsel.
The Victim Cannot Drop the Charges
Once charges are filed, the case belongs to the State. The prosecutor, not the alleged victim, decides whether to proceed, reduce, or dismiss. Washington prosecutors regularly move forward with evidence-based prosecutions even when a victim recants or refuses to participate, relying on scene statements, body camera footage, injury photographs, 911 recordings, medical records, and prior incident history.
Conditions That Follow a Conviction
A prison term is only part of the judgment. Courts routinely add:
- Completion of a state-certified batterer intervention program, minimum one year. Missed sessions or non-completion can trigger additional sanctions or revocation of supervision.
- A post-conviction no-contact order that can extend for years beyond release. Violations carry the same criminal penalties as pretrial-order violations.
- Restitution for the victim’s medical bills, counseling costs, and property damage.
- A term of community custody after release, monitored by a community corrections officer for compliance with all conditions.
Life After the Case
A Class B violent felony with a DV designation shows up on background checks and creates lasting barriers. Employers in healthcare, education, law enforcement, and government commonly disqualify applicants with violent felony convictions. Professional licensing boards for nurses, doctors, and other regulated occupations can suspend, revoke, or deny a license; the burden shifts to the applicant to demonstrate rehabilitation and fitness to practice.
Landlords routinely run background checks, and a violent felony gives them grounds to deny a rental application. Public housing authorities have broader discretion to exclude applicants with DV records. In family law, a DV conviction creates a presumption in many courts against awarding custody to the convicted parent. Rebuilding parental rights takes sustained evidence of change, often including completed treatment and compliance with every court order.