Bodily Injury Under Texas Penal Code: Assault Levels & Penalties

Under the Texas Penal Code, bodily injury means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. That definition, set out in Section 1.07, sits at the base of every assault charge in the state and is deliberately broad: a shove that leaves no mark can support a criminal case if the person felt pain.¹ From that low threshold, Texas builds a ladder of charges that runs from a Class A misdemeanor up to a first-degree felony carrying as much as 99 years in prison, with the level driven by who was hurt, how the injury happened, and whether the accused has certain prior convictions.

Bodily Injury vs. Serious Bodily Injury

The statute does not require lasting harm, visible marks, or medical treatment. Texas courts have upheld convictions where the only evidence of injury was the complaining witness’s testimony that they felt pain. A bruise, a scratch, or soreness from being grabbed all qualify.

Section 1.07 separately defines “serious bodily injury” as injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes death, results in serious permanent disfigurement, or causes prolonged loss or impairment of a bodily organ or limb.¹ The gap between the two matters enormously. Ordinary bodily injury supports misdemeanor assault. Serious bodily injury pushes the case into aggravated assault, a second-degree felony at minimum.

Misdemeanor Assault Under Section 22.01

A person commits assault by intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another.² The baseline offense is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail and a fine up to $4,000.³ Judges often impose community supervision with conditions like anger management classes, community service, or no-contact orders in place of jail.

When Assault Becomes a Third-Degree Felony

Section 22.01(b) elevates assault causing bodily injury to a third-degree felony when the victim falls into a protected category. The categories include:

A public servant on duty, including police officers, firefighters, and paramedics, or a public servant assaulted in retaliation for official actions
A security officer performing assigned duties
Emergency services personnel providing emergency care
A pregnant person, if the accused knows of the pregnancy or acts to force a termination
Government contractors and workers in juvenile or correctional facilities

Family violence assault becomes a third-degree felony if the accused has a prior conviction for any offense against a family or household member under the assault, homicide, kidnapping, or sexual assault statutes.² The prior conviction does not have to involve the same victim. Any qualifying past conviction triggers the enhancement. A third-degree felony carries 2 to 10 years in state prison and a fine up to $10,000.⁴

Strangulation as a Second-Degree Felony

An assault on a family or household member that involves choking or strangulation jumps to a second-degree felony. Strangulation is defined as impeding normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat or neck, or by blocking the nose or mouth.² Prosecutors do not need to prove the victim lost consciousness or sustained visible neck injuries. Evidence that the accused restricted breathing is enough. The punishment range is 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine up to $10,000.⁵

Aggravated Assault Under Section 22.02

Assault becomes aggravated assault when the accused causes serious bodily injury or uses or displays a deadly weapon during the offense.⁶ A deadly weapon is not limited to guns and knives. Texas courts have classified cars, baseball bats, boots, and dogs as deadly weapons when used in a way capable of causing death or serious injury.

The baseline punishment is a second-degree felony. The charge rises to a first-degree felony when:

The accused uses a deadly weapon and causes serious bodily injury to a family or household member
The assault causes a persistent vegetative state or irreversible paralysis
The victim is a public servant on duty, or the assault is retaliation against a witness, informant, or someone who reported a crime
The accused fires a weapon from a vehicle at or toward a building, home, or occupied vehicle
The assault is committed as part of a mass shooting

First-degree aggravated assault carries 5 to 99 years in prison, or life, plus a fine up to $10,000.⁶

Continuous Violence Against the Family

Section 25.11 creates a standalone felony for repeated domestic assaults. A person commits continuous violence against the family by assaulting a family or household member two or more times within a 12-month period. It is a third-degree felony whether or not the individual incidents would have been misdemeanors on their own.⁷ The jury does not have to agree unanimously on which specific incidents occurred or when. It only has to agree that the accused committed at least two qualifying assaults within the 12 months.

Penalty Ranges at a Glance

Class A misdemeanor: up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $4,000³
Third-degree felony: 2 to 10 years in state prison and a fine up to $10,000⁴
Second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine up to $10,000⁵
First-degree felony: 5 to 99 years in state prison, or life, and a fine up to $10,000

Self-Defense as a Justification

Self-defense is the most common justification raised in bodily injury cases. Under Section 9.31, a person may use force when they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect themselves against another person’s unlawful force.⁸ Texas has no duty to retreat before using force if you have a right to be where you are, did not provoke the confrontation, and were not engaged in criminal activity beyond a minor traffic violation.

The statute also creates a presumption that your use of force was reasonable in specific high-threat situations: if someone unlawfully forces their way into your home, vehicle, or workplace, or is committing a violent felony like robbery, kidnapping, murder, or sexual assault. That presumption shifts the burden onto prosecutors rather than requiring the defendant to prove reasonableness from scratch.

Deadly force is justified in a narrower set of circumstances. Under Section 9.32, you can use deadly force when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself against another person’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force, or to prevent an imminent violent felony such as murder, aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault, or robbery. The same reasonableness presumption applies when someone forces entry into your home, vehicle, or workplace, and a judge or jury cannot consider whether you failed to retreat in deciding whether the force was necessary.⁹

Self-defense fails in several situations. You cannot claim it if you provoked the confrontation, unless you clearly tried to withdraw and the other person kept attacking. You cannot claim it in response to verbal provocation alone, and you cannot claim it while resisting a lawful arrest.⁸ Consent also defeats the claim: if you agreed to fight, you cannot later argue you were defending yourself.

Protective Orders in Family Violence Cases

When someone is arrested for assault involving family violence, a magistrate can issue an emergency protective order at arraignment, sometimes within hours of the arrest. These orders typically last between 31 and 61 days, though orders involving sexual assault or stalking can last up to 91 days.¹⁰

The restrictions are immediate. A protective order can prohibit contact with or proximity to the victim, the victim’s home, workplace, or children’s school. It can ban firearm possession and suspend any license to carry a handgun. Some orders require GPS monitoring. Violating a protective order is a separate criminal offense punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, on top of any penalty for the underlying assault.¹⁰ The order can be in place before bail is posted, and an accidental phone call or return to a shared residence can trigger a new arrest.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

Firearms

A Texas felony conviction of any kind prohibits firearm possession. Under Section 46.04, a convicted felon cannot possess a firearm for five years after completing the sentence, including any parole, mandatory supervision, or community supervision.¹¹ After that five-year window, possession is legal only at the premises where the person lives. Carrying anywhere else remains a crime.

Federal law adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence faces a lifetime federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition.¹² There is no expiration and no home-possession exception. A Class A misdemeanor assault against a spouse, dating partner, or co-parent is enough to trigger it.

Record Sealing

Texas allows some criminal records to be sealed through nondisclosure orders, but offenses involving family violence are categorically excluded. If the court made a finding of family violence in connection with the offense, whether it resulted in a conviction or deferred adjudication, that record cannot be sealed and remains visible on background checks permanently.

Immigration

Non-citizens convicted of assault involving bodily injury face severe immigration consequences. Federal immigration law treats certain assault convictions as crimes of moral turpitude or aggravated felonies, either of which can trigger deportation or permanent inadmissibility. Even a misdemeanor family violence conviction can be enough. Anyone without U.S. citizenship who is charged with a bodily injury offense should consult an immigration attorney alongside a criminal defense lawyer.

Civil Suits and Restitution

A criminal case does not prevent the victim from filing a separate civil lawsuit for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The burden of proof in civil court is preponderance of the evidence, so a civil judgment is possible even after a criminal acquittal. In the criminal case itself, a judge can order restitution as part of the sentence, and failure to pay can result in revocation of community supervision or parole.

1
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 1.07 – Definitions
2
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 – Assault
3
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
4
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.34 – Third Degree Felony Punishment
5
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.33 – Second Degree Felony Punishment
6
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 22.02 – Aggravated Assault
7
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 25.11 – Continuous Violence Against the Family
8
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 9.31 – Self-Defense
9
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 9.32 – Deadly Force in Defense of Person
10
State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure CRIM P Art. 17.292
11
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts