The penalties for domestic assault in Tennessee start at up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine as high as $15,000 for a first conviction, and climb sharply from there. A second conviction brings mandatory jail time that must be served consecutively. A third becomes a felony. On top of the sentence itself, a conviction cannot be expunged, and it triggers a lifetime firearms ban under both state and federal law. The full picture matters, because the courtroom sentence is often the smallest piece.
First Offense Penalties
A first domestic assault conviction is punished at the same level as the underlying assault. The most common and most serious form, causing bodily injury intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, is a Class A misdemeanor. That carries up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine of up to $15,000.1Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-101 – Assault Domestic assault based on threats of imminent harm or on offensive physical contact carries lower penalties but still produces a criminal record.
Maximums and typical outcomes differ. First-time offenders rarely receive the ceiling sentence. Judges commonly impose probation, community service, and mandatory completion of a Batterer Intervention Program, along with anger management or substance abuse treatment where the facts call for it.2Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-111 – Domestic Assault The Batterer Intervention Programs generally run 26 to 52 weeks of group sessions, with 90-minute individual meetings, and focus on accountability, power and control dynamics, and the impact of violence on victims and children.
Second and Third Offense Penalties
The gap between a first and a second conviction is where Tennessee’s statute turns unforgiving.
A second conviction for domestic assault involving bodily injury carries a mandatory minimum of 30 consecutive days in jail, up to 11 months and 29 days, and a fine between $350 and $3,500. “Consecutive” is the operative word. The jail time cannot be served on weekends or split into segments. The defendant sits for at least 30 straight days.2Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-111 – Domestic Assault
A third or subsequent conviction for domestic assault involving bodily injury is a Class E felony. That means a prison sentence of one to six years, a mandatory minimum of 90 consecutive days in custody, and a fine between $1,100 and $5,000.3Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-111 – Domestic AssaultTennessee Code 40-35-111 – Authorized Terms of Imprisonment and Fines A felony conviction adds permanent loss of voting rights until restored, difficulty finding employment, and ineligibility for many professional licenses.
The escalating penalties apply specifically to assaults involving bodily injury. Repeat convictions for threats or offensive contact are still punished as the equivalent misdemeanor assault, though judges can and do weigh prior history when setting sentences.
Aggravated Domestic Assault
When a domestic assault involves a deadly weapon or causes serious bodily injury, the charge moves up to aggravated assault, a felony. Serious bodily injury means harm that creates a substantial risk of death, causes protracted loss or impairment of a body part, or involves extreme physical pain. Using or displaying a deadly weapon triggers the aggravated charge whether or not anyone was physically hurt.4Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-102 – Aggravated Assault
Aggravated assault is a Class C or Class D felony depending on the circumstances. A Class D felony carries 2 to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. A Class C felony carries 3 to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000.5Justia. Tennessee Code 40-35-111 – Authorized Terms of Imprisonment and Fines These are prison sentences rather than county jail time.
The Lifetime Firearms Ban
A domestic assault conviction triggers firearm restrictions at both the state and federal level, and for many defendants this is the most practically consequential piece.
Under Tennessee law, a person convicted of domestic assault is prohibited from possessing firearms. The ban applies even if the sentence was probation rather than jail.6Justia. Tennessee Code 39-17-1307 – Unlawful Carrying or Possession of a Weapon
Federal law imposes a separate, independent ban. Under the Lautenberg Amendment, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in any court is permanently prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving any firearm or ammunition. There is no hunting-rifle exception, no automatic restoration through state expungement, and no geographic limit. Violating the federal ban is a separate federal felony carrying up to 10 years in federal prison, a sentence that dwarfs the original domestic assault penalty.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
For law enforcement officers, military personnel, and security professionals, the firearms ban alone can end a career.
The Conviction Stays on Your Record
Tennessee allows expungement of certain misdemeanor convictions for people with otherwise clean records, but the expungement statute specifically excludes domestic assault. The conviction stays on the criminal record permanently and appears on background checks for employment, housing, and professional licensing.8Justia. Tennessee Code 40-32-101 – Destruction or Release of Records
Collateral Consequences
Employment and Professional Licensing
A domestic assault conviction can directly affect professional licenses. Many licensing boards in healthcare, education, law enforcement, and law treat a domestic violence conviction as evidence of moral unfitness or lack of the character required for the profession. Revocation, suspension, or denial of a license are all realistic outcomes, and the specifics vary by board. For anyone whose livelihood depends on a professional license, this is often the most devastating long-term effect.
Immigration
For non-citizens, a domestic violence conviction creates severe immigration problems. Federal law makes any non-citizen convicted of a crime of domestic violence deportable regardless of how long they have lived in the United States or their immigration status. The same applies to convictions for stalking and violations of protection orders. There is no waiver for this ground of deportation, so a single misdemeanor conviction can result in permanent removal.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
Military Discipline
Active-duty service members face a separate layer of accountability. The Uniform Code of Military Justice specifically criminalizes domestic violence against a spouse, intimate partner, dating partner, or immediate family member. A service member convicted in Tennessee’s civilian courts may also face military disciplinary proceedings, including court-martial, under a separate article that carries punishment as the court-martial directs.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 928b – Art. 128b Domestic Violence
Penalties for Violating Court Orders or Probation
Violating an order of protection is a separate Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine between $100 and $2,500. The jail sentence for the violation runs consecutively to any sentence for the underlying offense, so the time stacks rather than overlapping, unless a judge specifically orders otherwise. Each violation counts as a separate offense.11Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-113 – Violation of an Order of Protection or Restraining Order
Indirect contact counts. Sending a message through a friend, having a family member relay information, or showing up somewhere the protected person is known to be can all qualify. Courts take a practical view of what contact means.
Violating probation conditions, such as skipping court-ordered counseling, failing a drug test, or breaking a no-contact provision, can result in probation revocation. When probation is revoked, the judge can impose the original jail sentence that was suspended when probation was granted. Someone who received probation instead of jail on the original charge can go from supervised freedom to incarceration.
What Conduct and Which Relationships the Statute Covers
The penalties above apply only when the conduct meets the statute’s definition of assault and the parties share one of the qualifying relationships. Both pieces matter, because charges depend on both.
The conduct falls into three categories. Causing bodily injury intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly is the most serious, and the injury does not need to be severe. Bruising, soreness, or any detectable physical harm is enough. Placing someone in reasonable fear of imminent bodily injury requires no physical contact at all: threatening statements, raising a fist, cornering someone, or brandishing a weapon can qualify if the victim’s fear was objectively reasonable. Physical contact that is provocative or offensive, such as spitting, grabbing to intimidate, or shoving without injury, can lead to charges if the contact was intentional and would offend a reasonable person.
Domestic assault applies only when the accused and the alleged victim share one of these relationships:
- Current or former spouses, whether or not the marriage is still active
- Current or former cohabitants, including former roommates and live-in partners
- Current or former dating or sexual partners
- Blood or adoptive relatives, including parents, siblings, and children
- People related or formerly related by marriage, including in-laws and step-relatives
- Children of anyone in the categories above
Courts evaluate factors like length of relationship, frequency of interaction, and the nature of the connection when deciding whether a dating relationship existed. A single encounter at a social event would not qualify; a pattern of regular contact and romantic involvement would. For former cohabitants, there is no requirement that the parties still live together when the incident occurs.2Justia. Tennessee Code 39-13-111 – Domestic Assault An assault between two people who don’t share any of these relationships is prosecuted as ordinary assault, not domestic assault, and doesn’t carry the enhanced repeat-offense structure or the firearms ban tied to the domestic classification.