Is Domestic Violence a Felony? When It Becomes a Felony in Your State (2026)

Domestic violence is not automatically a felony in any U.S. state. In every jurisdiction, the default domestic violence charge — a first offense involving minor or no injury, no weapon, no strangulation, and no prior DV record — is a misdemeanor. What makes domestic violence a felony is the presence of specific aggravating factors that elevate the severity of the offense. The most common felony triggers, in rough order of frequency, are: serious bodily injury to the victim, use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, strangulation or choking, a known-pregnant victim, two or more prior domestic violence convictions within a state's lookback window (usually 5 to 10 years), violation of an active protective order, and committing the offense in the presence of a child.

Some states use a "wobbler" system — most notably California (Penal Code § 273.5) — where the same statute can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony at the prosecutor's discretion, based on the facts of the case, the severity of the injury, the defendant's criminal history, and other aggravating circumstances. In wobbler states, the line between misdemeanor and felony is not always bright; it depends on charging decisions.

A few states are unusually harsh. Missouri, for example, makes domestic assault in the third degree — merely attempting to cause physical injury or knowingly causing pain to a domestic victim — a class E felony with no misdemeanor tier. Mississippi makes "aggravated domestic violence" (serious bodily injury, deadly weapon, or strangulation) a felony on the first offense with no misdemeanor option for that tier. Most states, though, follow the graduated model: misdemeanor for low-level first offenses, felony for serious injury / weapon / strangulation / repeat offenses.

The practical takeaway: if you are asking "is domestic violence a felony" about a specific case, the answer depends on (1) what state you are in, (2) what exactly happened (injury level, weapon, strangulation), (3) the relationship between the parties, (4) whether the victim was pregnant, (5) whether there was a protective order in place, (6) the defendant's prior DV record, and (7) whether a child was present. The state-by-state table above gives you the exact statute, felony classification, and maximum penalty for all 50 states plus DC.

The legal definition of "domestic violence" varies by state but generally covers physical harm, threats of physical harm, and certain other offenses (stalking, harassment, criminal mischief, trespass, sexual assault) committed by one person against another person with whom they have or had a qualifying domestic relationship. The relationship is what makes it "domestic" rather than a regular assault.

In most states, the covered relationships include: current and former spouses, persons who share a child in common, persons who are currently or were formerly cohabiting (living together as a couple or family), persons in a current or recent dating relationship (the "boyfriend/girlfriend" category — added to federal law by the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act), and other family or household members (parents, children, siblings, in-laws, and sometimes extended family). Some states (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin) do not have a standalone "domestic violence" crime — instead, DV is a designation or sentencing enhancement applied to an underlying offense (assault, battery, strangulation, stalking, etc.) when the victim is in a covered relationship.

The conduct that counts as domestic violence is broader than just hitting. It typically includes: slapping, punching, kicking, pushing, grabbing, choking/strangulation, scratching, hair-pulling, throwing objects, threatening with a weapon, reckless endangerment, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, criminal mischief (destroying the victim's property), trespass (entering the victim's home without permission), false imprisonment, and interfering with the victim's attempt to call 911 or report the abuse. Some states (California, Hawaii, Utah, Washington) also include coercive control, economic abuse, or technological abuse in their civil DV definitions, though these are less commonly charged criminally.

It is important to understand that verbal abuse alone — name-calling, yelling, insulting — generally does not meet the criminal definition of domestic violence unless it rises to the level of a credible threat of physical harm (criminal threatening/terroristic threatening). However, verbal abuse can be the basis for a civil protective order in many states even without a criminal charge.

The single most common felony trigger across all 50 states is serious bodily injury. States use different terms — "serious physical injury" (NY, PA, OH), "great bodily harm" (FL, MI, WI), "substantial bodily harm" (OR, NV, WA), "serious bodily injury" (PA, NJ, NH) — but they generally mean the same thing: injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes serious permanent disfigurement or disability, causes protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function or organ, or requires medical treatment beyond first aid. Broken bones, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, injuries requiring stitches or surgery, concussions, and injuries causing permanent scarring all qualify. A bruise or a scratch usually does not.

The second most common felony trigger is a deadly weapon. Every state elevates assault or battery to a felony when a deadly weapon is used — typically called "aggravated assault" or "aggravated battery." A deadly weapon includes guns, knives, clubs, bats, and any other object capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Some states also include "dangerous instruments" — everyday objects (a car, a heavy lamp, a bottle) that are used in a way capable of causing serious injury. Firearm use often triggers additional mandatory minimum sentences (Florida's 10-20-Life, federal 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), Texas 1st-degree felony for family-member aggravated assault with a deadly weapon).

Strangulation is the third major felony trigger, and it is the one that has seen the most legislative change in the last 15 years. Before roughly 2007, most states could only charge non-injurious strangulation as a misdemeanor (simple assault), because without visible injury it did not meet the "serious bodily injury" standard. This was a major problem — strangulation is one of the most dangerous forms of DV, a strong predictor of eventual homicide, and it often leaves no visible injury. Beginning around 2007 (Texas, Florida, and others), states began passing standalone strangulation statutes that make strangulation or choking of a family/household member a felony from the first offense, regardless of whether visible injury resulted. As of 2026, the majority of states (including FL, TX, DE, DC, HI, IA, KS, LA, ME, MS, MO, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, WA, WV, WI, WY) have standalone felony strangulation statutes.

The fourth trigger is a known-pregnant victim. Many states (Arkansas, Florida, Delaware, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Ohio, Oklahoma, and others) elevate the offense to a felony or add sentence enhancements when the offender knew or should have known the victim was pregnant. Arkansas goes further than most — its pregnancy enhancement (§ 5-4-702) bumps the offense up an entire felony level, and "pregnant" is defined as just four weeks after conception.

The fifth trigger is prior DV convictions. Nearly every state has a recidivism-based felony elevation: after a certain number of prior DV convictions within a lookback window, a new misdemeanor DV becomes a felony. The thresholds vary: Arizona (3 within 7 years), Colorado (3 prior habitual), Georgia (2nd conviction), Iowa (3rd offense), Louisiana (3rd offense), Michigan (2+ priors), Minnesota (2+ within 10 years), Mississippi (3rd within 7 years), Missouri (2+ priors), Nebraska (2nd offense — one of the strictest), Virginia (3rd within 20 years — one of the longest lookbacks). Out-of-state, federal, and tribal DV convictions usually count toward the total.

The sixth trigger is protective-order violation. Committing a new DV offense while subject to an active protective order elevates the charge in many states (Alabama doubles mandatory minimums, South Carolina includes PO violation in DV 1st-degree and DVHAN, Texas makes assault against a person the offender is restrained from contacting a 3rd-degree felony). Many states also make repeated protective-order violations a standalone felony (Texas § 25.072, federal 18 U.S.C. § 2262).

The seventh trigger is the presence of a child. Several states (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Utah, South Carolina) elevate the offense or add sentence enhancements when the DV is committed in the presence of or witnessed by a minor child. Idaho doubles the maximum sentence when a child under 16 is present. Oregon makes Assault 4th a felony when committed in the presence of the victim's minor child. South Carolina lists "in the presence of a minor" as a per se element of DVHAN.

This is the part that surprises most people, and it is critically important: even a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction triggers a federal lifetime gun ban. You do not need a felony DV conviction to lose your firearm rights.

The Lautenberg Amendment (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)), enacted in September 1996, makes it a federal crime — punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine — for any person convicted of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to ship, transport, possess, or receive any firearm or ammunition. The ban is for life. There is no exception for law enforcement officers or military personnel — the Lautenberg Amendment is unique among federal gun prohibitions because 18 U.S.C. § 925(a)(1) does not provide a public-interest exception for § 922(g)(9). A police officer or soldier with a qualifying misdemeanor DV conviction cannot legally carry a firearm, which effectively ends their career.

The federal definition of "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)) requires that the offense: (1) be a misdemeanor under federal, state, tribal, or local law, and (2) have as an element the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a person in a covered relationship with the victim. The covered relationships are: current or former spouse, parent or guardian, a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, a person who is or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse/parent/guardian, a person similarly situated, and (since the June 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act) a person who has a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim.

Three Supreme Court cases have shaped how this works. United States v. Hayes (2009) held that the domestic relationship does not need to be a statutory element of the predicate offense — the government only needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offense was in fact committed by a person in a covered relationship. United States v. Castleman (2014) held that "physical force" includes the force used in common-law battery (offensive touching), not just violent or severe force. Voisine v. United States (2016) held that a reckless assault (not just intentional) qualifies — meaning even a conviction for reckless conduct can trigger the ban.

There is a narrow restoration of rights under the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, but it is very limited: after 5 years from conviction or completion of sentence (whichever is later), with no subsequent disqualifying offenses, firearm rights may be restored — but ONLY for individuals with a SINGLE dating-relationship misdemeanor conviction. This 5-year restoration does NOT apply to spouse, parent, guardian, cohabitant, or shared-child misdemeanor DV convictions. Those carry a lifetime ban with no federal restoration mechanism.

The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is the operational mechanism that enforces § 922(g)(9) at the point of firearm sale. When a prospective buyer attempts to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer, NICS queries federal databases for prohibiting records, including misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. In 2024, NICS issued 7,245 denials based on misdemeanor DV convictions under § 922(g)(9) — the 6th-leading denial reason (behind felony convictions at 49,665). One enforcement gap: roughly 30% of MCDV-related denials are issued after the 3-day Brady transfer window has expired, meaning the buyer may already have the firearm by the time the denial lands, triggering an ATF retrieval referral.

No two states handle domestic violence classification exactly the same way, and the differences can have enormous consequences for the defendant. The most important structural difference is whether a state has a standalone DV crime or uses a DV designation/enhancement on underlying offenses. About half the states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming) have standalone domestic violence, domestic battery, or domestic assault crimes. The rest (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington) apply a DV designation or enhancement to existing assault, battery, or strangulation statutes.

A key practical difference is the prior-conviction threshold. Nebraska is one of the strictest: a single prior domestic assault conviction elevates a new 3rd-degree offense (bodily injury or threat) from a misdemeanor to a Class IIIA felony. Virginia has one of the longest lookback windows: 20 years for felony elevation of domestic assault and battery. Arizona requires 3 prior DV offenses within 7 years (84 months) for its "aggravated domestic violence" Class 5 felony — and priors need not involve the same victim. Colorado's habitual DV offender provision requires 3 prior DV-related convictions from separately tried criminal episodes. Missouri is the outlier on injury threshold — domestic assault 3rd degree (merely attempting to cause physical injury or knowingly causing pain) is always a class E felony, with no misdemeanor tier for that degree.

Strangulation is where state law has changed the most. As of 2026, the majority of states make strangulation or choking of a family/household member a standalone felony from the first offense, regardless of whether visible injury resulted. This is a major shift from the pre-2007 era, when non-injurious strangulation was typically charged as a misdemeanor simple assault. The states with standalone felony strangulation statutes include: Delaware, DC, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. New York's Article 121 (enacted 2010) created three tiers: criminal obstruction of breathing (misdemeanor), strangulation 2nd (Class D felony if stupor/unconsciousness/injury), and strangulation 1st (Class C felony if serious physical injury).

Several states have unique enhancements worth noting. Alabama doubles mandatory minimums when a DV offense is committed in violation of a protection order or in the presence of a child under 14. Arkansas's pregnancy enhancement bumps the offense up an entire felony level. Idaho doubles the maximum sentence when the offense is committed in the presence of a child under 16. Indiana imposes a state-law firearm ban for ANY domestic battery conviction (including misdemeanor), mirroring the federal Lautenberg Amendment, with restoration possible only after 5 years. South Carolina's DVHAN (Domestic Violence of a High and Aggravated Nature) lists pregnancy and presence of a minor as per se elements of "extreme indifference to human life." Texas makes aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a family/household member a 1st-degree felony (5-99 years) — vs. 2nd-degree for a non-family victim. Connecticut and Wisconsin have strong mandatory-arrest laws. Mississippi and Nevada also mandate warrantless arrest.

A domestic violence conviction — even a misdemeanor — carries consequences far beyond the criminal sentence. These collateral consequences can follow you for life, and they are often more damaging than the jail time.

Firearm rights: As explained above, any qualifying misdemeanor DV conviction triggers the federal Lautenberg Amendment lifetime gun ban (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)). A felony DV conviction also triggers the standard federal felon-in-possession ban (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)). Many states (Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, and others) impose additional state-law firearm bans. In some states, even a deferred disposition or dismissed charge (Michigan's MCL 769.4a, Virginia's first-offender deferral, Maryland's Probation Before Judgment) can count as a conviction for federal gun purposes.

Immigration consequences: A DV conviction — misdemeanor or felony — can be deportable under federal immigration law. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a conviction for a "crime of domestic violence" (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)) is a deportable offense. This includes any offense involving violence committed against a person protected under DV laws. A felony aggravated felony conviction can also trigger deportation and permanent inadmissibility. California's PC 273.5 is specifically classified as a deportable offense. Non-citizens should consult an immigration attorney before any plea.

Employment consequences: A DV conviction appears on background checks. Many employers (especially healthcare, education, government, security, and positions working with vulnerable populations) will not hire individuals with DV convictions. A felony DV conviction bars employment in most licensed professions (nursing, teaching, childcare, law enforcement) and may disqualify you from professional licenses. Some states (California, Illinois, New York, and others) have ban-the-box laws that limit when employers can ask about criminal history, but a DV conviction can still be disqualifying for certain jobs.

Housing consequences: A DV conviction can bar you from public housing and Section 8 (HUD) eligibility. Many private landlords conduct background checks and reject applicants with DV convictions. A protective order may also bar you from your own home if you shared it with the victim.

Custody and family law: A DV conviction is a statutory factor in child custody determinations in every state. Many states have a rebuttable presumption against awarding custody to a parent with a DV conviction. A protective order can restrict your contact with your children. A DV conviction can also affect divorce proceedings, spousal support, and property division.

Military consequences: A DV conviction can end a military career. The Lautenberg Amendment bars service members with qualifying misdemeanor DV convictions from possessing firearms, which disqualifies them from any role requiring a weapon. This can result in administrative separation (discharge). A felony DV conviction is even more serious under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Expungement and sealing: Whether a DV conviction can be expunged or sealed depends entirely on the state. Some states (California, after completing probation) allow expungement of misdemeanor DV. Many states do not allow expungement of DV convictions at all, or only allow it after a long waiting period (10+ years). Even if a state expunges the conviction, the federal Lautenberg gun ban may still apply — federal law treats expunged convictions as disqualifying UNLESS the expungement expressly restores firearm rights (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)).

Mandatory treatment: Nearly every state requires court-ordered domestic violence offender treatment (batterer's intervention program) as a condition of any DV conviction. These programs typically run 26-52 weeks, are paid for by the offender, and failure to complete them can result in probation violation and jail time.

If you are charged with domestic violence — whether misdemeanor or felony — the most important thing to understand is that this is a serious criminal charge with life-altering consequences. Do not assume it is "just a misdemeanor" and will be fine. A misdemeanor DV conviction can cost you your gun rights for life, affect your immigration status, show up on every background check, and affect your custody and employment.

First, get a lawyer. If you cannot afford one, request a public defender at your first court appearance (arraignment). Do not try to represent yourself. DV cases involve complex legal issues — the domestic relationship element, prior-conviction enhancements, strangulation statutes, wobbler charging decisions, and the federal gun ban consequences — that require legal expertise. A lawyer may be able to negotiate a reduction to a non-DV charge (like disorderly conduct or simple assault without the domestic relationship element), which can avoid the Lautenberg gun ban and other collateral consequences.

Second, understand the protective order. In most DV cases, the court will issue a no-contact or protective order at arraignment that bars you from contacting the victim, returning to the shared home, and possibly from seeing your children. Violating this order is itself a crime — and in many states, violating it while committing a new DV offense elevates the new charge to a felony. Follow the order exactly. Do not contact the victim through friends, family, social media, or third parties. Do not return to the home. A protective-order violation is one of the fastest ways to turn a misdemeanor into a felony.

Third, do not assume the victim can "drop the charges." In most states, the decision to prosecute is made by the prosecutor, not the victim. Many states (Nevada, Mississippi, Alaska, Connecticut, Wisconsin) have mandatory arrest and mandatory prosecution policies — once the police respond and find probable cause, the state pursues the case even if the victim does not want to press charges. This is because DV victims are often under pressure (financial, emotional, safety) to recant.

Fourth, if you have prior DV convictions, understand the enhancement risk. A new charge that would normally be a misdemeanor may be filed as a felony based on your prior record — sometimes even one prior (Nebraska, Georgia). Tell your lawyer about any prior DV convictions, including out-of-state and tribal convictions, because these usually count toward enhancement.

Fifth, consider the immigration consequences if you are not a U.S. citizen. A DV conviction — even a misdemeanor — can be deportable. A lawyer who understands both criminal and immigration law (or a criminal defense lawyer working with an immigration lawyer) may be able to negotiate a plea to a non-deportable offense.

Sixth, comply with all court-ordered treatment. Most courts will order a DV evaluation and batterer's intervention program as a condition of bond or probation. Completing this proactively — before it is court-ordered — can sometimes help in negotiations and sentencing. Do not enroll in a generic "anger management" program unless the court approves it; most states require a state-certified DV offender treatment program.

Seventh, understand that this is informational only, not legal advice. Every case is different, and the information on this page is general. You need a lawyer licensed in your state who can advise you on the specific facts of your case, the local practices of your court, and the current state of the law. Do not rely on this page for legal decisions — use it to understand the landscape and to ask your lawyer informed questions.