What is the Punishment for Assault on a Family Member in Texas?

Key Takeaways for Assault on a Family Member in Texas

• A first-offense assault family violence charge causing bodily injury is a Class A misdemeanor in Texas, carrying up to one year in county jail and fines up to $4,000 under Texas Penal Code Section 22.01.
• A prior family violence conviction elevates any subsequent family violence assault to a third-degree felony, regardless of how old that prior conviction is, carrying two to ten years in state prison.
• Assault by strangulation or suffocation under Texas Penal Code Section 22.01(b)(2)(B) is a third-degree felony on the first offense, with no prior conviction required.
• A misdemeanor family violence conviction triggers a permanent federal firearms prohibition under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(9), affecting law enforcement officers, military members, and anyone who owns or uses firearms for any purpose.
• Dallas County prosecutors pursue family violence cases under a no-drop policy using body camera footage, 911 recordings, and medical records regardless of whether the named complainant cooperates or recants.

The Hidden Weight of a Texas Family Violence Conviction

The punishment for assault on a family member in Texas does not end at the sentence. A misdemeanor family violence conviction, even one resolved through probation with no jail time, activates a federal firearms prohibition under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(9) that carries no expiration date. That prohibition applies to everyone, including police officers, firefighters, military members, security professionals, and hunters, and it does not lift when probation ends.

This is the consequence that catches most Texas defendants off guard. The charge looks like a misdemeanor. The sentence looks manageable. But the federal firearms prohibition that attaches the moment a family violence conviction is entered follows that person into every subsequent gun purchase, every employment application in law enforcement or security, and every hunting season for the rest of their life.

How Texas Classifies Assault on a Family Member

Texas classifies assault on a family member based on three variables: the nature of the physical contact, the defendant’s prior conviction history, and the specific conduct involved.

The classification structure under Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 produces the following outcomes:

• Class C Misdemeanor: Intentional or knowing physical contact with a family member that the person knows or reasonably knows the other will find provocative or offensive, with no bodily injury. This carries a fine only, up to $500.
• Class A Misdemeanor: Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to a family or household member. This carries up to one year in county jail and fines up to $4,000, and it is the most common family violence charge filed in Dallas County and Tarrant County courts.
• Third-Degree Felony (Prior Conviction Enhancement): Any assault family violence charge where the defendant has a prior family violence conviction on record, regardless of how long ago that conviction occurred, automatically becomes a third-degree felony carrying two to ten years in state prison.
• Third-Degree Felony (Strangulation): Assault by strangulation or suffocation under Texas Penal Code Section 22.01(b)(2)(B) is a third-degree felony on the first offense. Touching another person’s throat or neck, or blocking their nose or mouth in a manner that constitutes an assault, triggers felony classification without any prior conviction.
• Second-Degree Felony (Aggravated): Aggravated assault family violence involving a deadly weapon or serious bodily injury under Texas Penal Code Section 22.02 carries two to twenty years in state prison.

Does the Victim’s Decision Not to Press Charges End a Texas Family Violence Case?

No. A named complainant’s decision to recant or refuse to cooperate does not end a Texas family violence case.

Dallas County and Tarrant County prosecutors pursue family violence charges under a no-drop prosecution policy using evidence that does not depend on the complainant’s testimony, and that policy is applied consistently regardless of what the named complainant later says they want.

The evidence base prosecutors use in Texas family violence cases is broader than most defendants realize when they first learn the complainant has changed their story.

Body camera footage captured at the scene, 911 recordings made while the incident was still in progress, medical records from JPS Health Network in Fort Worth or Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, responding officer observations documented in the police report, and photographs of visible injuries each stand independently of the complainant’s cooperation.

A prosecution built on that evidence base moves forward whether the named complainant appears at trial.

What Happens When a Complainant Recants in Texas

A complainant who contacts the prosecutor’s office and states they no longer want to press charges does not have the authority to dismiss the case.

The state of Texas, not the named individual, is the prosecuting party. When a complainant recants, prosecutors evaluate the independent evidence to determine whether the case can proceed without that testimony.

Recantation does affect the prosecution’s evidentiary calculus, particularly in cases where the independent evidence is thin. A case relying primarily on the complainant’s statement, with no corroborating physical evidence and no independent witnesses, becomes more difficult to prosecute after recantation.

A case with strong body camera footage, 911 recordings, and documented injuries becomes less affected by recantation because the prosecution does not need the complainant’s courtroom testimony to establish what happened.

How Does a Prior Family Violence Conviction Affect a New Charge in Texas?

A prior family violence conviction in Texas elevates any subsequent family violence assault to a third-degree felony, and Texas law imposes no time limit on how old that prior conviction must be.

A conviction from 1999 elevates a 2025 charge to a felony the same way a conviction from 2023 would. There is no lookback period, no washout period, and no forgiveness for time served. This enhancement creates a critical issue for defendants who resolved a prior family violence charge years ago through deferred adjudication.

Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 treats a completed deferred adjudication for family violence as a prior conviction for enhancement purposes, which means a defendant who thought their earlier case left no conviction may discover that it is being used to elevate their current charge to a felony.

That outcome is one of the most common surprises in Texas family violence defense, and it changes the sentencing exposure and the plea calculus in ways the defendant does not see coming without an attorney’s early review.

Does a Protective Order Affect the Criminal Charge?

A Magistrate’s Order for Emergency Protection (MOEP) is issued at the county jail within hours of a family violence arrest under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 17.292, without any hearing, without the defendant’s input, and before any evidence is reviewed by a neutral party.

The MOEP runs between 31 and 91 days and prohibits contact with the named complainant, including through third parties and social media.

Violating the MOEP is a separate criminal offense under Texas Penal Code Section 25.07, a Class A misdemeanor on the first violation and a third-degree felony on subsequent violations or when a weapon is involved.

A defendant who follows the MOEP conditions strictly gives their defense attorney room to work on the underlying case. A defendant who contacts the complainant, even at the complainant’s own request, hands the prosecution a separate charge and a documented pattern of non-compliance that affects every subsequent bond hearing and plea discussion.

What Does a Self-Defense Claim Look Like in a Texas Family Violence Case?

Self-defense is a recognized legal defense in Texas family violence cases under Texas Penal Code Chapter 9, and it applies when a person uses force to protect themselves from the use of unlawful force by another.

In a family violence context, self-defense claims succeed when they are corroborated by physical evidence and documented history, not when they rest solely on the defendant’s account of what happened.

The practical challenge in a Texas family violence self-defense case is that the person who calls 911 first is not always the person acting defensively.

Responding officers in Dallas County and Tarrant County are trained to identify a primary aggressor, and that determination is made quickly at the scene based on visible injuries and initial statements before the full picture of the incident is established.

A defense attorney who reviews the body camera footage, the 911 recording, and the relative positions of the injuries on both parties builds the factual record that demonstrates who was actually defending whom.

The following categories of evidence carry the most weight in a Texas family violence self-defense case:

• Prior Documented Threats: Text messages, voicemails, or prior police reports establishing a pattern of threatening behavior by the complainant before the incident
• Injury Documentation: Medical photographs and records showing the defendant’s injuries, their location on the body, and whether they are consistent with a defensive response
• Independent Witness Accounts: Statements from neighbors, family members, or bystanders present during the incident who have no stake in the outcome
• 911 Recording Content: The complainant’s own statements made during the 911 call, before any coaching or reconsideration, frequently reveal facts inconsistent with the prosecution’s narrative

Moving a Texas Family Violence Charge Toward the Best Possible Outcome

The defendants who get the best outcomes in Texas family violence cases are not necessarily the ones with the cleanest facts. They are the ones who retained defense counsel early, before the prosecution’s narrative hardened into a case file that took on momentum of its own.

An attorney who reviews the body camera footage, the 911 recording, and the medical records in the first week of a case finds things that the same attorney reviewing the same file six months later cannot change.

For defendants facing a first-offense Class A misdemeanor charge, deferred adjudication probation under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.102 produces an outcome with no final conviction on the record, though the arrest and deferred adjudication remain visible.

Defendants who complete deferred adjudication on certain family violence charges may qualify for an order of nondisclosure that seals the record from most public access.

For defendants facing a third-degree felony charge based on a prior conviction or a strangulation allegation, the defense strategy shifts toward pre-trial motion practice, grand jury packet submissions, and building a trial-ready file that changes how the assigned prosecutor evaluates the case when plea discussions begin.

The following represent the specific ways a Texas family violence defense attorney adds value that a defendant without legal representation cannot replicate: