An assault family violence charge in Texas is a domestic assault prosecuted more harshly than an ordinary assault because of the relationship between the people involved. Even a first offense with minor injuries starts as a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, and a conviction — or in most cases a deferred adjudication — permanently bars you from owning a firearm under federal law, locks you out of Texas’s record-sealing system, and can reshape any custody case involving your children. The specifics of what you’re facing depend on what’s alleged, whether strangulation is involved, and whether you have any family violence history.
What Relationship Turns an Assault Into Family Violence
Texas defines three categories of relationships that convert an ordinary assault into a family violence offense, and the definitions reach further than most people expect.
Family members include anyone related by blood or marriage, former spouses, parents who share a child whether or not they were ever married, and foster parents or foster children. You do not need to live together. A person you divorced ten years ago still qualifies.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.003 – Family
Household members are people living in the same dwelling, regardless of any family or romantic connection. Two roommates who split rent qualify. So does a long-term houseguest.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.005 – Household
Dating partners are individuals who have or previously had a continuing romantic or intimate relationship. Courts look at how long the relationship lasted, the nature of the interactions, and how often the people were in contact. A casual acquaintance does not count. A former girlfriend or boyfriend from years ago does.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.0021 – Dating Violence
How the Charge Is Classified and What Each Level Carries
There is no single “assault family violence” statute. The same underlying conduct is graded by what allegedly happened, whether the throat or airway was involved, and whether there is prior family violence history.
Class C Misdemeanor: Threat Only
If the accusation involves only a threat with no physical contact, the offense is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500 with no jail time. Texas does not enhance a threat-only assault based on a family relationship, but the family violence label still attaches.4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.01 – Assault
Class A Misdemeanor: Bodily Injury, First Offense
When the allegation involves any physical pain or injury to a family member, household member, or dating partner, the charge is a Class A misdemeanor. The injury does not need to be severe. A scratch, a bruise, or redness from being grabbed can be enough. Punishment reaches up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both. This is the starting point for most assault family violence cases.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
Third-Degree Felony: Strangulation or Prior Conviction
Two circumstances push the charge to a third-degree felony. The first is choking, strangling, or otherwise impeding normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat, neck, nose, or mouth. The second is a prior conviction for any family violence offense. A single earlier conviction is enough to make a new incident a felony, even if both offenses involved only minor injuries. A third-degree felony carries two to ten years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice plus an optional fine up to $10,000.6State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.34 – Third Degree Felony Punishment
Continuous Violence Against the Family
Texas separately charges a third-degree felony when a person commits two or more assaults against a family member, household member, or dating partner within twelve months. No prior conviction is required. Jurors do not have to agree on which specific incidents occurred, only that at least two qualifying assaults happened inside the window.7State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 25.11 – Continuous Violence Against the Family
Aggravated assault involving serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon is charged separately under Penal Code 22.02 and carries second-degree felony penalties (two to twenty years and up to a $10,000 fine), or first-degree penalties against a family member in certain circumstances.8State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.33 – Second Degree Felony Punishment
What Happens Right After the Arrest
Family violence arrests trigger an immediate protective mechanism that catches most defendants off guard. When you see a magistrate after being booked, the judge can issue an emergency protective order on the spot. If the offense involved serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon, the judge is required to issue one and has no discretion.9Texas Courts. Magistrates Order of Emergency Protection
The order typically prohibits you from contacting the alleged victim, going near their home, workplace, or children’s school, and communicating in any threatening or harassing way with their family. It suspends your concealed handgun license and bars you from possessing any firearm while the order is in place.
The order lasts between 31 and 61 days in most cases. When a deadly weapon was used or displayed, the minimum jumps to 61 days and the maximum to 91 days. Violating the order, even by sending one text message to the alleged victim, is a separate Class A misdemeanor. Two or more prior violations, or a violation that itself involves an assault or stalking, elevate the new offense to a third-degree felony.10State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 25.07 – Violation of Certain Court Orders or Conditions of Bond in a Family Violence Case
A victim or prosecutor may also pursue a longer-term civil protective order under the Family Code, which can last up to two years and be extended beyond that in cases involving a felony, serious bodily injury, or a subject who has been under two or more previous protective orders.11State of Texas. Texas Family Code 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order
The Affirmative Finding and the Deferred Adjudication Trap
Every case that involved family violence gets a permanent label attached to the judgment. Under Article 42.013 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the judge must determine whether the offense involved family violence, and if so, must enter an affirmative finding into the written judgment. The judge has no discretion to skip it.12State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art 42.013 – Finding of Family Violence
This is where defendants get caught. Deferred adjudication is a form of probation designed to avoid a formal conviction if you complete the terms. Many people accept it believing their record stays clean. In family violence cases, the affirmative finding still goes into the judgment at the plea hearing, and that finding triggers most of the same collateral consequences as a straight conviction. Other courts and agencies look at the finding when deciding your eligibility for firearms, your custody rights, and whether a future offense gets enhanced to a felony.
The Alleged Victim Cannot Drop the Case
The State of Texas is the prosecuting party, not the person who called the police. Once charges are filed, only the prosecutor can dismiss them. Texas law specifically prohibits prosecutors from requiring a victim to leave the accused or file for divorce as a condition of pursuing the case.
Victims frequently recant or ask the district attorney to drop the case, and prosecutors hear this routinely. A victim’s refusal to cooperate can make a case harder to prove, but it does not automatically produce a dismissal. Prosecutors can still move forward on 911 recordings, body camera footage, injury photographs, neighbor testimony, and the defendant’s own statements to police. Expecting the case to disappear because the other person doesn’t want to testify is a strategy that fails more often than it works.
The Lifetime Federal Firearm Ban
This is the collateral consequence that surprises people most, and it is permanent. Federal law makes it a crime for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess, purchase, or receive any firearm or ammunition. The ban covers handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and it has no expiration date.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Because this is a federal prohibition, it applies regardless of Texas state law and cannot be overridden by a Texas court. Even a Class A misdemeanor conviction for a first-time slap that left no visible mark triggers the lifetime ban if the offense involved a qualifying domestic relationship. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System flags these convictions and denies any future purchase.
How Texas deferred adjudication interacts with the federal ban is a complicated area. Federal law looks to the jurisdiction’s own definition of “conviction,” and whether Texas deferred adjudication counts as a federal conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence purposes has been the subject of legal debate. Anyone in that position should consult a lawyer who understands both Texas criminal procedure and federal firearms law before assuming they are in the clear.
Immigration Consequences for Non-Citizens
Federal immigration law classifies a crime of domestic violence as a deportable offense for any non-citizen, including lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and undocumented individuals. The definition reaches any crime of violence committed against a current or former spouse, a co-parent, a cohabitant, or anyone else protected under a state’s domestic violence laws. Violating a protective order is independently listed as a deportable offense, separate from the underlying assault.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
Even a misdemeanor family violence conviction can start removal proceedings. If the offense is classified as an aggravated felony, deportation is nearly automatic and most forms of relief become unavailable.
Child Custody Consequences
A family violence finding reshapes custody proceedings. Texas Family Code Section 153.004 requires courts to consider evidence of family violence when determining custody, and a history of domestic violence creates a rebuttable presumption against being appointed a joint managing conservator, the Texas equivalent of joint custody. The parent with the family violence history may still receive some form of custody, but they carry the burden of overcoming the presumption, and courts often impose supervised visitation or other restrictions.
The affirmative finding from the criminal case becomes evidence in any later family court proceeding. Even if the criminal case resolved with probation and no prison time, the finding can be used by the other parent to argue for sole custody or restricted access.
Batterer Intervention Program
Defendants placed on probation for a family violence offense are almost always required to complete a Batterer’s Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP), accredited by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Courts typically require enrollment within 60 days. An accredited program runs at least 36 hours across a minimum of 18 weekly group sessions focused on accountability, ending violent behavior, and victim safety. Participants pay out of pocket, with fees typically ranging from several hundred to over a thousand dollars, on top of court fines and supervision fees. Failure to attend or complete the program can lead to probation revocation and jail or prison time.15Texas Department of Criminal Justice. BIPP Accreditation Guidelines
Your Record Cannot Be Sealed
Texas offers an order of nondisclosure that hides some offenses from public background checks. Family violence offenses are explicitly excluded. Under Government Code Section 411.074, a person cannot receive an order of nondisclosure if the offense involved family violence or if the court entered an affirmative finding of family violence, whether the case ended in a conviction or in deferred adjudication.16State of Texas. Texas Government Code 411.074
A person with a prior family violence finding is also barred from seeking nondisclosure for other offenses. The label effectively locks you out of the state’s record-sealing system. The only path to removing the case from your record is an expunction, which requires that the case was dismissed, you were acquitted, or the arrest never led to a charge. Completing probation or serving a sentence does not qualify.