Aggravated assault on a family member in Texas carries penalties of 2 to 20 years in prison as a second-degree felony, rising to 5 to 99 years or life as a first-degree felony when a deadly weapon causes serious bodily injury. Either level allows a fine of up to $10,000, and a conviction brings consequences well beyond the sentence itself: loss of firearm rights, restrictions on child custody, and deportation for non-citizens.
What Makes the Assault “Aggravated”
Under Texas Penal Code Section 22.02, an assault becomes aggravated when one of two things is true: the victim suffered serious bodily injury, or the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the offense.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.02 – Aggravated Assault Which of those applies, together with the relationship between the parties, decides the sentencing range you are facing.
Serious bodily injury means harm that creates a substantial risk of death, causes permanent disfigurement, or produces long-term loss of function in any body part or organ.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 1.07 – Definitions A clean-healing broken bone may not qualify. A knife wound that perforates an organ almost certainly does. That line separates a misdemeanor from a felony carrying decades.
A deadly weapon includes any firearm, anything designed to cause death or serious bodily injury, and anything capable of causing death or serious bodily injury based on how it was used or intended to be used.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 1.07 – Definitions A baseball bat is sporting equipment until someone swings it at a person’s head. Prosecutors do not have to prove the weapon actually caused injury. Displaying or brandishing it during the assault is enough.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.02 – Aggravated Assault
The state also has to prove a culpable mental state. The defendant must have acted intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly. Purely accidental or involuntary conduct falls outside those categories, which is why the mental state element is often where the case is fought.
Who Counts as a Family Member
The relationship element pulls its definition from the Family Code and reaches further than many people assume. Section 71.003 defines family to include people related by blood or marriage, former spouses, parents who share a child regardless of whether they ever married, and foster parents and foster children.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.003 – Family
Household members are covered too. Under Section 71.005, a household is just people living in the same home, whether or not they are related.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.005 – Household Unrelated roommates still qualify.
Dating relationships form the third category. Section 71.0021 covers people who have or previously had a continuing romantic or intimate relationship, judged by its length, its nature, and how often the people interacted.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.0021 – Dating Violence Casual acquaintances or coworkers do not count. The relationship has to have had real romantic substance.
Second-Degree Felony Penalties
Aggravated assault against a family member is a second-degree felony by default. The range is 2 to 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, with an optional fine of up to $10,000.6State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.33 – Second Degree Felony Punishment Within that range, judges weigh the severity of the injuries, whether a weapon was involved, the defendant’s criminal history, and the circumstances of the incident.
Community supervision is technically available for a second-degree felony, and courts sometimes require completion of a Battering Intervention and Prevention Program as a condition. Even a probated sentence, though, still carries a family violence finding, and that finding triggers the firearm, custody, and immigration consequences discussed below.
When the Charge Becomes a First-Degree Felony
The offense moves up to a first-degree felony when the defendant uses a deadly weapon during the assault and causes serious bodily injury to someone in a family, household, or dating relationship as defined by the Family Code.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.02 – Aggravated Assault Both pieces have to be present. A weapon without serious injury, or serious injury without a weapon, stays at the second-degree level.
A first-degree felony carries 5 to 99 years in prison, or life, plus an optional fine of up to $10,000.7State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.32 – First Degree Felony Punishment The five-year minimum means a prison-free outcome is not on the table for the most serious version of this offense. A separate first-degree enhancement also applies when an assault causes a traumatic brain or spinal injury resulting in a persistent vegetative state or irreversible paralysis, whatever the relationship between the parties.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.02 – Aggravated Assault
Mandatory Protective Order at Release
For aggravated assault cases, the magistrate has no discretion about a protective order. When the offense involved serious bodily injury or the use or display of a deadly weapon, the magistrate must issue an Emergency Protective Order before the defendant leaves custody.8Texas Office of Court Administration. The Texas Family Violence Benchbook – Chapter 4 For ordinary assault, that order is discretionary. For this charge, it is automatic.
The order can prohibit further violence, bar threatening or harassing communication with the victim, and keep the defendant away from the victim’s home, workplace, school, or child-care facility. It must also suspend any concealed handgun license and prohibit firearm possession for the duration.8Texas Office of Court Administration. The Texas Family Violence Benchbook – Chapter 4
Duration depends on the aggravating factor. When the arrest involved serious bodily injury, the order lasts 31 to 61 days. When a deadly weapon was used or displayed, it lasts 61 to 91 days.8Texas Office of Court Administration. The Texas Family Violence Benchbook – Chapter 4 Violating the order is a separate offense. It can be charged as a misdemeanor with up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, or as a felony carrying at least two years in prison if the violation involves further family violence.
Loss of Firearm Rights
A felony conviction here triggers firearm prohibitions at both the state and federal level, and they operate on different timelines.
Under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(1), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment cannot possess, ship, or receive firearms or ammunition.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Because aggravated assault against a family member is a felony carrying 2 to 20 years or more, this prohibition applies automatically and is effectively a lifetime ban, with very limited routes to restoration.
Texas Penal Code Section 46.04 adds its own rule. A convicted felon cannot possess a firearm at all for five years after release from confinement or community supervision, whichever is later. After that, possession is allowed only inside the person’s own home.10State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm A violation of this state rule is itself a third-degree felony. And even once the Texas restriction loosens, the federal lifetime ban still applies, so someone keeping a gun at home in reliance on state law can be prosecuted federally.
Child Custody and Visitation
A conviction can reshape custody and visitation. Under Texas Family Code Section 153.004, a court cannot grant a parent access to a child when there is a preponderance of evidence showing a history or pattern of family violence within the two years before the custody petition was filed, unless the court specifically finds that access would not endanger the child. Even then, the order must be built to protect the child and any other victim.
There is a rebuttable presumption that unsupervised visitation is not in a child’s best interest when credible evidence of family violence exists. Courts can require supervised visits, exchanges in protective settings, abstention from alcohol or controlled substances before and during visitation, and completion of a Battering Intervention and Prevention Program. The standard presumption favoring joint managing conservators can also be overcome by a finding of family violence history.
These are not just long-horizon risks. Family courts routinely consider pending criminal charges and protective orders in temporary custody rulings, so a parent can lose meaningful access to their children long before the criminal case is tried.
Immigration Consequences
For anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, a conviction can be devastating. Federal immigration law under 8 U.S.C. Section 1227(a)(2)(E) makes any non-citizen deportable after a conviction for a “crime of domestic violence,” defined to include any crime of violence against a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, or similarly situated person under domestic violence laws.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Aggravated assault against a family member fits squarely within that definition.
A “crime of violence” carrying a prison term of at least one year also qualifies as an “aggravated felony” under federal immigration law. That classification removes most forms of relief from removal, including cancellation of removal and, in many cases, asylum. It also creates a permanent bar to re-entry. A plea that looks favorable on the criminal side can still be catastrophic on the immigration side, so non-citizens facing this charge need immigration-specific advice alongside criminal defense counsel.
Defenses That Can Bring the Penalty Down
Self-defense is the most common claim in these cases. Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.31, a person is justified in using force when they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect against someone else’s unlawful force.12State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 9.31 – Self-Defense The force used has to be proportional to the threat, and Texas imposes no duty to retreat if you had a right to be where you were and did not provoke the confrontation. Shooting someone who shoved you would be considered disproportionate in almost any courtroom.
Other defenses go after the elements the state has to prove. Challenging the relationship element can push the case out of the family violence framework. Contesting whether the injury meets the statutory definition of “serious” can drop a felony to a misdemeanor. Attacking the mental state by showing the act was accidental rather than intentional, knowing, or reckless can defeat the charge entirely. Each targets something the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.