Ohio domestic violence law, codified at ORC 2919.25, makes it a crime to cause physical harm, recklessly cause serious injury, or threaten force against a family member, household member, or dating partner. A first offense is a first-degree misdemeanor with up to 180 days in jail, and the charge climbs to a felony with each prior conviction. As of March 2025, the most serious repeat offense carries up to five years in prison.
What the Statute Prohibits
ORC 2919.25 reaches three kinds of conduct. Knowingly causing or attempting to cause physical harm. Recklessly causing serious physical harm. And using threats of force to make a household member believe you will hurt them.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.25 – Domestic Violence The third category matters: no blow has to land. A credible threat, on its own, supports a charge.
The people protected by the statute go well beyond spouses. It covers current and former spouses, parents and children, people who share a child, anyone living in the same household, and people in a dating relationship.
Prosecutors can move forward even if the victim wants to drop the case. They build charges from 911 recordings, medical records, photographs of injuries, and witness statements, because tying prosecution to a victim’s willingness to testify would give abusers an easy way to shut the case down.
Penalties by Offense Level
The sentence depends on the specific conduct, whether the defendant has prior convictions, and whether the victim was pregnant. Penalties escalate sharply.
- First offense involving physical harm or reckless injury: first-degree misdemeanor, up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.25 – Domestic Violence
- First offense based on threats only: fourth-degree misdemeanor, up to 30 days in jail.
- With one prior domestic violence or related conviction: physical harm or reckless injury becomes a fourth-degree felony, punishable by 6 to 18 months in prison and fines up to $5,000.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2929.18 – Financial Sanctions, Felony
- With two or more priors: third-degree felony. House Bill 111, effective March 2025, raised the sentencing range for this level to 12 to 60 months in prison, with fines up to $10,000, and created a presumption of prison rather than community control.3Ohio Legislature. House Bill 111 – 135th General Assembly
- When the offender knew the victim was pregnant: even without a prior record, a physical harm or reckless injury charge becomes a fifth-degree felony carrying a mandatory prison term.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.25 – Domestic Violence
Courts can also order participation in a batterer intervention program as part of sentencing, and violations of the sentence conditions send the case back before the judge.
Arrest and Release After a Call
Ohio officers can make a warrantless arrest on probable cause that domestic violence occurred, even if they did not see it.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2935.03 – Arrest They assess injuries, property damage, the demeanor of both people, and any statements from witnesses.
The state follows a preferred arrest policy. Officers are pushed to arrest the suspected offender rather than simply separating the parties. When both people show injuries, the officer identifies a primary aggressor by weighing the severity of each person’s injuries, prior calls to the address, and whether one person’s actions were defensive.
Bail isn’t automatic. Under ORC 2919.251, a judge or magistrate has to review the case before release and weigh the risk of further violence.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.251 – Bail in Certain Domestic Violence Cases That usually means custody until the first court appearance, which typically happens within one business day. The court can then impose conditions like no-contact orders or GPS monitoring as a term of release.
Civil Protection Orders and Temporary Protection Orders
Ohio offers two kinds of protection orders, and they operate through different tracks.
Civil Protection Order
A Civil Protection Order (CPO) stands on its own. You don’t need anyone arrested or charged. You petition the Domestic Relations division of the Common Pleas Court, or the Juvenile division when the respondent is a minor. If the court finds immediate danger at an ex parte hearing the day you file, it can issue an order that day.6Supreme Court of Ohio. Domestic Relations Resource Guide – Domestic Violence and Protection Orders A full hearing follows within 7 or 10 court days depending on whether the respondent was ordered to leave a shared residence. A final CPO can last up to five years and may be renewed.7Supreme Court of Ohio. Protection Orders Overview Card
Judges have wide latitude in what a CPO can include. Typical provisions order the respondent to stay away from the victim’s home, workplace, and children’s school. Courts can grant temporary custody, order support, and require the respondent to surrender firearms. A CPO can force an abuser out of a shared home even when their name is on the lease or deed. There is no filing fee for a domestic violence CPO.
Temporary Protection Order
A Temporary Protection Order (TPO) rides on a criminal case. Under ORC 2919.26, when someone is charged with domestic violence, the criminal court can enter a TPO to keep the accused away from the alleged victim while the case is pending.8Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.26 – Temporary Protection Orders A TPO ends when the criminal case ends. Anyone who wants ongoing protection past that point should also seek a CPO.
Both order types cross state lines. Federal law requires every state to honor a valid protection order from another jurisdiction, so long as the issuing court had authority and the respondent had notice and an opportunity to be heard.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
Violating an Order
A first violation of a protection order is a first-degree misdemeanor, up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Priors bump it to a fifth-degree felony, and violating an order while committing another felony is a third-degree felony.10Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2919.27 – Violating a Protection Order A text message or an appearance at a place the protected person frequents can be enough to trigger an arrest.
Firearm Loss After a Conviction
The firearm consequences of a domestic violence conviction catch people off guard. Federal law permanently bars anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing, purchasing, or receiving firearms or ammunition, regardless of how minor the underlying offense.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Violating the ban is a separate federal felony carrying up to 15 years. A narrow exception exists where the conviction rested only on a dating relationship: with one such conviction and five years without further offense, the ban may lift. That exception does not apply to convictions involving a spouse, co-parent, or household member.12Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Prohibitions
Ohio adds its own layer. A felony offense of violence, which includes felony domestic violence, triggers the state’s weapons-under-disability statute, and possessing a firearm in violation is a third-degree felony.13Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2923.13 – Having Weapons While Under Disability Judges can also order firearm surrender as part of a protection order, before any criminal conviction.14Supreme Court of Ohio. Domestic Violence Firearms Prohibition
Effects Beyond Sentencing
A conviction follows a person into other parts of their life.
Custody and Visitation
Ohio courts have to consider domestic violence in custody decisions. ORC 3109.04 directs the judge to weigh any conviction or guilty plea for domestic violence and any protection order against a parent or household member.15Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3109.04 – Best Interest of the Child A conviction does not automatically end parental rights, but it can push a court toward supervised visitation or no overnight contact.
Immigration
For a non-citizen, a domestic violence conviction is a deportable offense under federal law, and a protection order violation can also trigger removal.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1227 – Deportable Aliens Naturalization requires a showing of good moral character, which these offenses undermine. Non-citizen victims should know that federal law contains waivers for people who were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty and were not the primary aggressor.
Employment
Many Ohio positions in healthcare, education, residential care, and law enforcement require criminal background checks under ORC 109.572. A domestic violence conviction produces a seven-year exclusion period for residential facility employment.17Cornell Law School. Ohio Admin. Code 5122-30-31 – Background Investigations for Employment Outside regulated fields, any employer running a standard check will see the record.
Housing
Victims in federally subsidized housing, including public housing and Section 8, have specific protections under the Violence Against Women Act. A victim can’t be evicted or denied assistance because of domestic violence committed against them, even where the incident produced criminal activity or a lease violation at the property.18eCFR. 24 CFR 5.2005 – VAWA Protections Victims can request an emergency transfer to another unit, and housing providers must keep the new location confidential. If the abuser is the leaseholder, the provider can bifurcate the lease to remove that person while remaining tenants keep the housing, with at least 90 days to establish eligibility on their own.
Victim Rights and Compensation
Marsy’s Law, added to Ohio’s constitution in 2017, gives victims enforceable rights: reasonable notice of proceedings, the right to be present and heard, notice of the offender’s release, input on plea negotiations, and restitution for economic losses.19Supreme Court of Ohio. Marsy’s Law and Crime Victim Rights These aren’t courtesies. If a prosecutor’s office skips a required notice, a victim can assert the right through the court.
The Ohio Attorney General’s office runs a victim compensation fund. Domestic violence victims can receive up to $50,000 for medical and dental care, mental health counseling (including for immediate family), lost wages, crime scene cleanup, and replacement of items taken as evidence or damaged during medical treatment.20Ohio Attorney General. Apply for Victims Compensation The fund does not pay for pain and suffering or stolen property, and it pays only after insurance and other sources. Applications go through the Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services Section, online or by mail.