Violating a Protective Order or Bond 2+ Times in 12 Months

In Texas, violating a protective order or bond condition two or more times within a 12-month period is a third-degree felony under Penal Code Section 25.072, punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A single violation is normally a Class A misdemeanor with a county jail ceiling of one year. The repeat-violation statute exists because Texas treats a pattern of defiance as categorically more dangerous than one incident, and prosecutors can bring the felony without ever securing separate convictions for the underlying acts.

How the 12-Month Window Is Counted

The clock runs from the date of the first alleged violation, not from the date the order was issued. If prohibited contact happens on March 1 and another prohibited act happens the following February 28, both fall inside the window and both count toward the felony.¹

Prosecutors do not need a prior conviction on the first act before charging the felony. They can bundle the alleged violations into one case and prove them at a single trial using call logs, text messages, GPS data, surveillance footage, and witness testimony. If the case reaches a jury, the jurors must unanimously agree that two or more qualifying acts happened inside the 12 months. They do not have to agree on which specific acts, only that two or more occurred.¹

What Counts as a Violation

The underlying conduct is defined in Penal Code Section 25.07. Any combination of the following acts can be stacked toward the two-act threshold:

Communicating with the protected person in a threatening or harassing way, relaying threats through a third party, or making any contact at all when the order bars all communication. The only allowed channels are through your attorney or a person the court specifically appointed.
Going to or near the protected person’s residence, workplace, or a school or daycare a protected child attends, as those locations are described in the order.
Committing family violence, sexual assault, stalking, or conduct that furthers a trafficking offense against the protected person.
Possessing a firearm while subject to the order.
Harming, threatening, or interfering with the care, custody, or control of a pet, companion animal, or assistance animal belonging to the protected person.
Removing, attempting to remove, or disabling a court-ordered GPS monitoring device.
Tracking or surveilling the protected person’s property or vehicle without consent, including with phone apps or physical tracking devices.

Section 25.07 does not set a fixed stay-away distance like 200 or 500 feet. It prohibits going “to or near” locations “as specifically described in the order.”² Whatever distance applies to you is whatever the judge wrote into your specific order. Read it.

An invitation from the protected person is not a defense. If they ask you to come over or call them, the order still binds you. Only the judge who issued it can change its terms. This is one of the fastest ways people accumulate two violations without planning to: a message exchange today, a visit next week, and the state has what it needs.

When the Felony Jumps to Second Degree

Section 25.072 escalates to a second-degree felony if at least one of the underlying violations involved possessing a deadly weapon during conduct that would qualify as a state jail felony under Section 25.07(g)(1)(B).¹ A second-degree felony carries 2 to 20 years in prison.

For the standard third-degree charge, community supervision may be available depending on criminal history and the facts, so not every conviction means prison. The 2-to-10-year range still sits over any probation offer, and a judge who revokes probation can impose the full sentence.³

Can You Be Convicted of the Individual Violations Too?

The statute builds in protection against stacked punishment. If you are convicted under Section 25.072, you generally cannot also be convicted of the individual Section 25.07 offenses that make up the felony in the same criminal action. The exceptions are narrow: the individual offense was charged as an alternative, it occurred outside the 12-month window, or it is treated as a lesser included offense.¹ If all the alleged conduct violated a single order or a single bond setting, the state can only bring one count under Section 25.072.

The Knowledge Requirement

The state must prove you knew about the order or bond condition at the time of the violation. The bar is low in practice. Personal service, your signature on the order, or your presence in court when the judge issued it is enough. Texas courts have held that receipt of a copy establishes knowledge even if you never read it.

There is one meaningful limit. For temporary ex parte protective orders issued under Chapter 83 of the Family Code, the order must have been served on you before any violation can be charged.² If service has not happened, conduct that would otherwise violate the order is not chargeable.

Which Orders and Bonds This Applies To

Section 25.07 does not cover every court order. It applies to a defined set of family violence, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, and trafficking protections, including permanent protective orders under Chapter 85 of the Family Code, served temporary ex parte orders under Chapter 83, magistrate’s orders of emergency protection under Article 17.292 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, protective orders in criminal cases under Chapter 7B, bond conditions in qualifying cases, child abuse or neglect orders under Subchapter F of Chapter 261, divorce-related protective orders under Family Code Section 6.504, and out-of-state protective orders recognized under Chapter 88.²

The order has to be active and legally valid at the time of the alleged act. An expired order cannot support a charge. If you are not sure whether yours is still in force, call the court clerk before you find out through an arrest.

GPS Tampering Counts

Judges in family violence cases can require GPS monitoring as a bond condition under Article 17.49 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Removing the device, trying to remove it, or disabling it is a Section 25.07 violation on its own and counts toward the two-act threshold. Someone who cuts off a monitor on Monday and sends a text to the protected person on Wednesday has given prosecutors both acts within the window.

Collateral Consequences

The sentence and fine are not the full picture. A third-degree felony conviction carries consequences that outlast the sentence.

Firearms

Texas Penal Code Section 46.04 prohibits a convicted felon from possessing a firearm for five years after release from confinement or completion of community supervision, whichever is later. After that, possession is allowed only at the person’s home.⁴ Federal law is stricter. 18 U.S.C. Section 922 permanently bars firearm possession after a felony conviction with no home exception, and it overrides the more lenient state timeline.

Voting and Civic Rights

A felony conviction cancels Texas voter registration. The right to vote is restored automatically once the full sentence is complete, including prison time, parole, and community supervision. During that period, you cannot vote, serve on a jury, or hold most public offices without a pardon.

Child Custody

Family Code Section 153.004 requires courts to consider family violence in custody and visitation decisions. A felony conviction for repeatedly violating a protective order is strong evidence in that analysis, and judges can order supervised visitation only or deny unsupervised possession. The record follows you into any future custody case, not just the one tied to the order.

Employment and Housing

A third-degree felony shows up on background checks and can disqualify you from licensed professions, security-sensitive jobs, and positions involving vulnerable populations. Housing applications regularly ask about felony history. These are the consequences that often matter most day to day, and they do not expire.