A Class E felony domestic assault charge in Missouri carries up to four years in prison, a permanent criminal record that cannot be expunged, a federal ban on owning firearms, and a range of collateral consequences reaching into custody, housing, employment, and immigration status. It is the lowest felony classification for this offense, but “lowest” is relative. The conviction follows you for life, and the path from charge to sentence looks different depending on which of two statutes the prosecutor is using.
The Two Statutes That Produce This Charge
Missouri reaches a Class E felony domestic assault through two separate routes, and the elements are not the same.
Third-Degree Domestic Assault Under RSMo 565.074
A person commits third-degree domestic assault by attempting to cause physical injury to a domestic victim or by knowingly causing physical pain or illness. The offense is automatically a Class E felony. No prior record is required.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 565.074 – Domestic Assault, Third Degree What the prosecutor has to show is either the attempt to injure or the knowing infliction of pain or illness.
Fourth-Degree With Two or More Prior Convictions Under RSMo 565.076
Fourth-degree domestic assault covers a wider range of behavior: recklessly causing physical injury or pain, criminal negligence with a deadly weapon, placing someone in fear of immediate injury, knowingly making offensive physical contact, or isolating a domestic victim by cutting off communication or transportation. On its own, this is a Class A misdemeanor. It becomes a Class E felony only when the defendant has two or more prior convictions for domestic assault, any assault offense, or any offense against a domestic victim under county, municipal, state, federal, or military law. Those prior convictions can involve different victims.2Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 565.076 – Domestic Assault in the Fourth Degree, Penalty
Who Counts as a Domestic Victim
Both statutes require the alleged victim to fit the definition of a “domestic victim” under RSMo 565.002, which points to the definition of “family” or “household member” in RSMo 455.010. That covers spouses and former spouses, people related by blood or marriage, people who live together or have lived together, and people who share a child.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 565.002 – Definitions If the relationship doesn’t fit, the case is not a domestic assault case, though it can still be charged as an ordinary assault.
Where This Charge Sits Compared to Higher Degrees
One point of confusion is worth clearing up: strangulation does not produce a Class E felony. If choking or strangulation is alleged, the charge moves up to second-degree domestic assault under RSMo 565.073, a Class D felony carrying up to seven years. Second-degree also covers knowingly causing physical injury by any means, recklessly causing serious physical injury, and recklessly causing physical injury with a deadly weapon.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 565.073 – Domestic Assault, Second Degree First-degree domestic assault under RSMo 565.072 is a Class B felony carrying five to fifteen years and applies to attempts to kill or knowingly causing serious physical injury. If any of those elements are in the charging document, the case is not a Class E.
Sentencing Range and What Judges Actually Do
The statutory maximum is four years, which includes both incarceration and any conditional release period.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 558.011 – Sentence of Imprisonment, Terms – Conditional Release There is no mandatory minimum. Judges have broad discretion, and outcomes range from full probation to the four-year cap depending on the facts and the defendant’s history.
For Class E felonies specifically, the sentencing judge can impose up to one year in a county jail rather than sending the defendant to the Missouri Department of Corrections. A sentence longer than one year has to go to state custody.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 558.011 – Sentence of Imprisonment, Terms – Conditional Release A suspended imposition of sentence is sometimes available. That means the court withholds a formal conviction on the condition that the defendant completes probation. If probation is violated, the judge can impose any sentence up to the statutory maximum. Restitution for medical bills or other financial losses can also be ordered.
Missouri’s fine statute at RSMo 560.011 does not explicitly list a fine cap for Class E felonies.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 560.011 – Fines for Felonies In practice, courts in domestic cases focus on incarceration, probation conditions, and restitution rather than fines.
What Probation Actually Looks Like
Probation in a Class E domestic assault case is not just check-ins with a probation officer. Missouri courts routinely require a batterer intervention program. Under Missouri Division of Probation and Parole guidelines, those programs run at least 26 weeks, meet weekly for at least 90 minutes, and are segregated by gender. The curriculum covers responsibility for abusive behavior, power and control dynamics, non-abusive communication, and the effects of violence on partners and children.
The court may also send a defendant to the Department of Corrections’ 120-day program under RSMo 559.115, a structured intervention rather than standard imprisonment. Defendants who complete the program are typically released on probation. The Department of Corrections chooses the specific track, which can include cognitive behavioral intervention or institutional treatment.7Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 559.115 – Probation, One Hundred Twenty Day Program Substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling, and random drug testing are common additional conditions.
Protective Orders and No-Contact Conditions
Expect a protective order. Missouri recognizes two kinds: an ex parte order, issued immediately without the accused present, and a full order of protection, issued after a hearing.8Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 455.010 – Definitions A full order lasts at least 180 days and up to one year under standard circumstances. If the court makes written findings that the respondent poses a serious danger to the petitioner’s or a minor household member’s physical or mental health, the order can go beyond a year, and full orders can be renewed annually on the petitioner’s motion.9Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 455.040 – Hearings, Duration of Orders, Renewal
These orders can prohibit all contact, including phone calls, texts, and messages passed through third parties. If the parties share a residence, the court can order the defendant to leave regardless of who owns the property or holds the lease. Visitation with shared children may be restricted or supervised.
Violating the order is its own crime. A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor. A second violation within five years of a prior violation is a Class E felony on its own.10Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 455.085 – Arrest for Violation of Order, Penalties Someone already facing a Class E domestic assault charge who violates a protective order can end up with two separate felony cases running at once.
Judges also impose no-contact conditions through pretrial release and bond, even when no formal protective order exists. Those typically include staying a set distance from the victim’s home, workplace, or school, avoiding indirect communication, and sometimes electronic monitoring. Violating a bond condition usually means revocation and additional penalties.
The Federal Firearm Ban
This is the consequence that surprises the most defendants. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(1), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year cannot possess firearms or ammunition.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Because the Class E maximum is four years, the ban applies. It covers shipping, transporting, receiving, and possessing any firearm or ammunition.
The prohibition is federal, and it applies regardless of what Missouri state law does or does not add. A violation is itself a felony carrying up to 15 years in federal prison. Any firearms already owned have to be surrendered or transferred to someone legally allowed to have them. For anyone who hunts, works in law enforcement, or keeps a gun at home, this is often the most disruptive part of the conviction.
Effect on Custody and Visitation
Under RSMo 452.375, Missouri courts must consider any history of abuse of any individuals involved when setting custody. A finding of a pattern of domestic violence rebuts the presumption of equal parenting time. If the court still awards some custody to the parent with the conviction, it has to enter written findings explaining why that arrangement best protects the child and the victim from further harm.12Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 452.375 – Custody, Visitation, Best Interest of Child
When the parent without custody has restricted or supervised visitation because of domestic violence, the court can also order that records shared between the parents exclude the custodial parent’s address and the child’s location. Supervised visitation means a third party has to be present during all contact. Joint custody is very difficult to obtain or maintain with a Class E domestic assault conviction on the record.
Employment and Housing
Felony convictions show up on background checks, and most employers run them. Licensed professions such as nursing, teaching, and childcare are especially exposed, because licensing boards have independent authority to deny or revoke credentials based on a felony. Security clearances and law enforcement positions are generally off the table.
Missouri restricts state government employers from asking about criminal history on initial job applications, but that protection does not extend to private employers, who can ask at any stage. A domestic assault felony tends to give hiring managers pause even when the job has nothing to do with the underlying conduct.
Housing is similar. Landlords run background checks, and federal law does not prohibit them from denying applications based on felony records. Public housing programs may disqualify applicants with domestic violence-related convictions. Finding a place often takes more time, higher deposits, and a willingness to look outside the most competitive rental markets.
Immigration Consequences for Non-Citizens
If you are not a U.S. citizen, a Class E domestic assault conviction can trigger deportation. Federal immigration law makes any non-citizen convicted of a “crime of domestic violence” after admission to the United States deportable. The statute defines that as any crime of violence against a current or former spouse, a person the defendant lives or has lived with as a spouse, a co-parent, or anyone else protected under domestic violence laws.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Missouri’s Class E domestic assault statutes fit that definition.
Violating a protective order is also an independent basis for deportation under the same provision. Beyond removal itself, a conviction can block adjustment to lawful permanent resident status, bar re-entry, and undermine the “good moral character” finding required for naturalization. For non-citizens, the immigration side of the case is as urgent as the criminal side.
No Expungement, Ever
Unlike many Missouri felonies, a domestic assault conviction cannot be expunged. RSMo 610.140 specifically excludes any “misdemeanor or felony offense of domestic assault” from expungement eligibility.14Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement Time doesn’t cure it. Completing probation doesn’t cure it. Staying out of trouble afterward doesn’t cure it. The conviction stays on the record.
That is why the initial outcome matters so much. A suspended imposition of sentence, if the court grants it, avoids a formal conviction. Once judgment is entered, there is no mechanism under Missouri law to remove it later.
Self-Defense
Self-defense comes up often in these cases because the incident frequently involves two people who were both physically engaged. Under RSMo 563.031, a person may use physical force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to defend against the imminent use of unlawful force.15Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 563.031 – Use of Force in Defense of Persons Missouri does not impose a duty to retreat. You can stand your ground anywhere you have a legal right to be.
The defense fails if you were the initial aggressor, unless you clearly withdrew from the encounter and communicated that withdrawal before the other person continued. Force also has to be proportional. Responding to a shove with serious violence undermines the claim.
Officers responding to a domestic call often arrest the person with the more visible injuries, regardless of who started the confrontation. Making a self-defense case usually requires corroborating evidence: 911 recordings, photographs of injuries on both parties, witness statements, a documented history of abuse by the alleged victim. A bare claim, without supporting evidence, rarely wins at trial.