In Texas, assaulting a family or household member by impeding their breath is a third-degree felony on the first offense, punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. There’s no misdemeanor version of this charge and no requirement of a prior conviction. The arrest itself sets off bond conditions, a likely protective order, a probable CPS referral if children live in the home, and, on conviction, a permanent federal firearm ban and a record that cannot be sealed.
What the State Has to Prove
Texas Penal Code § 22.01(b)(2)(B) makes it a third-degree felony to assault a family or household member by impeding normal breathing or blood circulation.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 – Assault The prosecution has to establish three things: that you caused bodily injury, that the person was a family or household member or someone you had a dating relationship with, and that you impeded their breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat or neck or by blocking their nose or mouth.
The mental state is intentional, knowing, or reckless. Recklessness is enough, meaning you were aware your actions created a substantial risk of impeding breathing and went ahead anyway. That’s a lower bar than most defendants expect.
The offense turns on the act itself, not the aftermath. The victim doesn’t have to lose consciousness, show bruises, or need medical care. Once breathing or circulation was impeded, even briefly, the offense is complete.
Who Counts as a Family or Household Member
The felony only applies if the relationship fits a category in the Texas Family Code. Family includes anyone related by blood or marriage, former spouses, and parents who share a child regardless of whether they were ever married.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 71.003 Household means people living together in the same home, related or not.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 71.005 Current and former dating relationships are also covered.
If the state can’t fit the relationship into one of those categories, the felony charge under § 22.01(b)(2)(B) doesn’t hold. The conduct may still be chargeable as a Class A misdemeanor assault, but the practical gap between misdemeanor and felony is enormous. That said, Texas defines these categories broadly enough that most domestic situations qualify, including roommates with no romantic tie.
Prison Range and Probation for a First Offense
A first conviction is a third-degree felony: 2 to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a fine up to $10,000.4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.34 – Third Degree Felony Punishment A judge can grant community supervision instead of prison, but probation on this offense usually comes loaded with conditions: batterer intervention programming, no-contact orders, drug and alcohol testing, and community service.
When a Prior Bumps It to Second-Degree
Any prior conviction for an assaultive offense against a family or household member turns this charge into a second-degree felony.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 – Assault The prior doesn’t have to involve strangulation. Family violence assault, aggravated assault, sexual assault, or continuous violence against the family all qualify.
Second-degree felony punishment runs 2 to 20 years and a fine up to $10,000.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 12.33 That doubles the ceiling. Prosecutors in family violence cases routinely pull prior records, and a case from years ago in another county still triggers the enhancement.
The Affirmative Finding of Family Violence
When a court determines that an assaultive offense involved family violence, it must enter an affirmative finding of family violence in the judgment.6State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure CRIM P Art. 42.013 The finding is permanent, and it drives most of the collateral consequences that outlast the sentence.
The biggest one: an affirmative finding permanently disqualifies you from an order of nondisclosure, the Texas process that seals a record from most background checks. Family violence offenses are categorically excluded.7Texas Courts. An Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure Even a deferred adjudication, where the judge doesn’t formally enter a conviction, still carries the affirmative finding and still blocks sealing.
Bond, GPS, and No-Contact Conditions
Expect the magistrate to set aggressive conditions. No-contact orders with the alleged victim, firearm surrender, curfew, and drug or alcohol testing are standard. Texas law specifically authorizes GPS ankle monitoring as a bond condition in family violence cases, and the defendant usually pays for it.8State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure CRIM P Art. 17.49 Monitoring costs run several hundred dollars a month and continue until the case resolves, which can take a year or more.
Violating a bond condition is itself a crime under Penal Code § 25.07. A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor. If the violation involves an assault, or if you have two or more prior violations, it becomes a third-degree felony.9State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 25.07 One critical point: a text message from the alleged victim doesn’t cancel your no-contact order. A single reply, even to a message she sent first, can put you back in jail with a new charge stacked on top of the original one.
Protective Orders Can Run Longer Than Two Years
Separately from bond conditions, the alleged victim can seek a civil protective order under Family Code Chapter 85. Standard protective orders last up to two years. Because this offense is a felony-level family violence charge, the court can issue an order that exceeds two years with no statutory maximum.10State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order
A protective order can require you to stay away from the victim’s home, workplace, and children’s school, cut off all communication, leave a shared residence, and surrender firearms. If you’re incarcerated when the order would otherwise expire, it automatically extends for one or two years after your release depending on the length of the sentence.10State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order
How These Cases Get Built Without Visible Injury
Up to half of strangulation victims show no external bruising. That sounds like a weak case, and it isn’t. Prosecutors rely on the victim’s early statements, the 911 recording, photographs of redness or swelling taken under enhanced lighting, and medical documentation of symptoms like voice changes, difficulty swallowing, or petechiae. A forensic nurse examiner’s notes about throat tenderness carry particular weight because they’re hard to challenge on cross-examination. Even an ER visit with “no acute findings” can still document the victim’s account and complaints of pain or hoarseness.
Many Texas counties follow no-drop policies in family violence cases. The state moves forward even if the victim recants, refuses to cooperate, or asks for dismissal. The decision belongs to the prosecutor, not the complainant. Defendants who assume the case will disappear once the alleged victim stops answering the phone often walk into trial anyway, with her original statements, 911 audio, and scene photos coming in without her.
Defenses Worth Raising
The strongest defenses attack the specific elements. If the evidence doesn’t clearly show that breathing or circulation was actually impeded, the felony piece may fall apart. Contact with the neck during a physical altercation is not the same as impeding breathing, and where there is no medical documentation of strangulation symptoms and the only evidence is the alleged victim’s statement, that argument has room to move.
Self-defense is available in Texas if you reasonably believed force was immediately necessary to protect yourself from another person’s use or attempted use of unlawful force, and the force you used was proportional. Juries tend to be skeptical of self-defense in family violence cases, especially where there’s a significant size difference.
Challenging the relationship element is another route. If the complainant doesn’t fit the Family Code categories, the § 22.01(b)(2)(B) felony fails, even if some lesser assault charge survives.
Plea negotiation is common. Depending on the evidence, defense counsel may push for a reduction to misdemeanor assault or another lesser charge. Any plea that carries family violence still triggers the affirmative finding and its collateral consequences, so a real negotiation goal is often to reach a resolution that avoids the family violence designation entirely.
Permanent Firearm Ban
A conviction here triggers the federal firearm ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing any firearm or ammunition.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts The 2-to-10-year range clears that threshold on its own. Even if you get probation and never serve a day, the conviction itself triggers the ban.
This is a federal prohibition that applies everywhere in the country, regardless of state-level restoration of rights. Possessing a single round of ammunition after a felony conviction is a separate federal crime carrying up to 15 years. Texas has a process for restoring some state firearm rights after a felony, but the federal ban remains in place unless the conviction is expunged or pardoned, and expungement is generally unavailable for a family violence felony.
Children in the Home and CPS
An arrest for this offense frequently triggers a report to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, especially if children were present. Responding officers are trained to note whether children were in the residence, and that often results in a CPS referral whether or not any child was directly harmed.
A CPS investigation runs on its own track. The agency evaluates whether children in the home are safe and can require safety plans, supervised visitation, or removal of the accused parent from the home as a condition of avoiding court intervention. If CPS concludes a child was endangered, it can petition family court for temporary managing conservatorship, effectively removing the child from the parent’s custody.
A conviction also weighs heavily in any custody or visitation dispute. Texas family courts consider a parent’s history of family violence when deciding the best interest of the child, and a conviction for impeding a household member’s breathing is strong evidence against unsupervised access. In severe cases, particularly with multiple incidents or violence directed at a child, the conviction can support termination of parental rights.
Immigration Consequences
For non-citizens, this charge is dangerous. Federal law makes any alien deportable who is convicted of a crime of domestic violence at any time after admission.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens This offense qualifies: it involves violence against a family or household member, and use of physical force is an element.
Because it’s a felony with a potential sentence over one year, the conviction can also be classified as an aggravated felony for immigration purposes if the sentence actually imposed, including suspended time, reaches one year. An aggravated felony designation eliminates most forms of immigration relief, including asylum and cancellation of removal. Even 365 days fully suspended can trigger the classification.
Non-citizens facing this charge need both a criminal defense attorney and an immigration attorney working together. A plea that looks favorable on the criminal side, such as a lesser felony with probation, can still be catastrophic if the sentence hits the one-year mark.
Background Checks, Licensing, and Housing
Because family violence convictions can’t be sealed through nondisclosure, this felony shows up on every background check run by employers, landlords, licensing boards, and volunteer organizations for the rest of your life.7Texas Courts. An Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure
Professional licensing boards in healthcare, education, law, and finance routinely deny or revoke licenses on felony convictions involving violence. A nursing student, a teacher, or anyone else with a professional license should assume a conviction here likely ends that career. Many licensing applications ask about pending charges as well, so the arrest itself can create problems before any conviction.
Housing is another immediate hit. Most apartment complexes and property management companies run background checks, and a felony family violence conviction is typically an automatic disqualifier. Federal housing programs also restrict eligibility for applicants with violent felony records. Stable housing becomes harder to find, and it stays harder for years.