Alabama Domestic Violence Laws: Degrees, Penalties, PFA Orders

Alabama’s domestic violence laws don’t create a single standalone crime. Instead, they turn existing offenses like assault, stalking, harassment, and burglary into domestic violence charges when the victim is a family member, household member, dating partner, or co-parent of the offender. The charge then carries its own degree, its own penalty range, mandatory jail time for repeat offenders, and permanent firearm consequences that follow a conviction for life.

Who Counts as a Domestic Victim

A crime becomes domestic violence only if the victim and the offender have a qualifying relationship. Alabama’s statutes cover current or former spouses, parents and step-parents, children and step-children, grandparents and step-grandparents, grandchildren and step-grandchildren, and anyone who shares a child with the defendant.¹ Present household members are included, as is anyone in a current or former dating relationship with the defendant.

Two of those terms have narrow definitions. “Household member” excludes non-romantic or non-intimate co-residents, so ordinary roommates are not covered. A “dating relationship” means a current or former romantic or intimate relationship characterized by an expectation of affectionate or sexual involvement.² Cohabitation, marriage, and shared children are not required for a dating relationship to qualify.

The Three Degrees of Domestic Violence

Alabama sorts domestic violence into three degrees based on the seriousness of the underlying crime.

Third Degree

This is the most common charge. It applies when the predicate offense against a qualifying victim is third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment, criminal coercion, harassment, harassing communications, criminal surveillance, third-degree criminal trespass, second- or third-degree criminal mischief, or third-degree arson.¹

Second Degree

Second-degree domestic violence covers second-degree assault, stalking, intimidating a witness, second- or third-degree burglary, and first-degree criminal mischief committed against a qualifying victim.³ These predicates involve more significant physical harm, weapons, or sustained threatening behavior.

First Degree

First-degree domestic violence is reserved for the most serious conduct: first-degree assault, aggravated stalking, or first-degree burglary against a qualifying victim.² First-degree assault typically requires serious physical injury caused with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, so first-degree cases almost always involve grave bodily harm.

Penalties and Repeat-Offense Escalation

Each degree carries its own sentencing range, and Alabama imposes mandatory minimums for repeat offenders that courts cannot suspend, reduce, or shorten with good-time credits.

Third Degree

A first conviction is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.¹⁴ A second conviction stays a Class A misdemeanor but adds a mandatory 10 days in jail that cannot be reduced or suspended. A third or subsequent conviction becomes a Class C felony, carrying one year and one day to 10 years in prison and fines up to $15,000.⁵ What looks like a misdemeanor pattern can turn into a felony prison sentence quickly.

Second Degree

Second-degree domestic violence is a Class B felony, carrying 2 to 20 years in prison and fines up to $30,000.³ A second or subsequent conviction triggers a mandatory minimum of six months in prison, with no probation, parole, or good-time reductions during that term.

First Degree

First-degree domestic violence is a Class A felony, the top classification in Alabama’s criminal code. A conviction carries 10 to 99 years or life in prison, plus fines up to $60,000.⁶ A repeat conviction requires a mandatory minimum of one year in prison, without any reduction.²

Aggravating Circumstances

Alabama doubles the mandatory minimum for first-degree domestic violence when either of two aggravators is present. The first is committing the offense while violating a protection order. The second is committing it in the presence of a child under 14, meaning a child who could see or hear the act, regardless of whose child it is or whether the child lives in or was visiting either household.² For a repeat first-degree offender, that pushes the mandatory minimum from one year to two.

What Happens After a Domestic Violence Arrest

Police can arrest someone for a domestic violence offense without a warrant, based only on probable cause. That authority covers all three degrees, interference with a domestic violence emergency call, and domestic violence by strangulation or suffocation.⁷ The officer does not have to witness the incident.

After the arrest, the defendant cannot simply post bail and leave. Alabama requires a mandatory hold until a judge or magistrate reviews the case, which must happen within 24 hours.⁸ This cooling-off window is designed to protect the alleged victim during the most volatile hours after an incident.

At that first appearance, the judge can attach conditions to release. Common ones include a no-contact order barring communication with the victim in person, by phone, electronically, or through anyone else; a prohibition on possessing firearms or other weapons while the case is pending; and stay-away orders covering the victim’s home, workplace, and other locations. Violating any of these conditions can result in revocation of bail and new criminal charges.⁸

Protection from Abuse Orders

Separately from any criminal prosecution, a victim can seek civil protection by filing a Protection from Abuse (PFA) petition at the county courthouse. There is no filing fee.⁹ The petition describes the abuse and the qualifying relationship with the respondent.

If the petition shows immediate danger, a judge can issue a temporary ex parte order the same day, before the respondent is notified. That order generally lasts up to 14 days and stays in force until a full hearing. The respondent is then served with the petition, the temporary order, and notice of the hearing.

At the hearing, both sides can present evidence. If the court finds abuse occurred, it issues a final PFA order. A final order is permanent unless the court sets a specific duration or either party later petitions to change it.⁹ Many people assume PFA orders expire automatically after a year. In Alabama, they do not.

A final order can include several protections at once:

A stay-away distance, often at least 300 feet from the victim’s home, school, and workplace.
A complete no-contact provision, directly or through third parties.
Temporary custody and visitation arrangements, including supervised or denied visitation.
Temporary child support or spousal support during the order’s duration.
Exclusive possession of the shared residence for the victim, even if the respondent owns or leases the property.
Temporary possession of a vehicle if the victim has no transportation.
Payment of the victim’s attorney’s fees and costs.

Penalties for Violating a PFA Order

Violating a protection order is a standalone crime. A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor with up to one year in jail and a $6,000 fine. A second violation adds a mandatory 30 days in jail that cannot be suspended. A third or subsequent violation is a Class C felony, punishable by one year and one day to 10 years in prison.¹⁰ Every violation carries an additional $50 fine that goes to Alabama’s Domestic Violence Trust Fund. These penalties are on top of any charges for new offenses committed during the violation.

Firearms Restrictions After a Conviction

A domestic violence conviction shuts off firearms rights at both the state and federal level, and the restriction is permanent.

Under Alabama law, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense cannot own or possess a firearm, and the same prohibition applies to anyone subject to a valid protection order. Violating the ban is a Class C felony.¹¹ For firearms purposes, Alabama defines a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence as any misdemeanor involving the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon, where the victim is a spouse, former spouse, parent, child, co-parent, or household member.

Federal law separately prohibits anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms or ammunition.¹² The federal ban has no expiration and no hunting or personal-use exception. Even if Alabama restored state firearms rights, the federal prohibition would still apply on its own.

Batterer Intervention Programs

Courts routinely order defendants convicted of domestic violence to complete a certified batterer intervention program. These programs are designed for perpetrators and are overseen by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, which certifies both the programs and the facilitators.¹³

Participants pay for the program themselves through session fees, typically $15 to $150 per session. Courts can waive fees for participants at or below 125% of the federal poverty level.¹³ Courts cannot refer victims or their family members to these programs. Only adjudicated perpetrators are eligible.

Protection Orders Across State Lines

An Alabama PFA order does not lose force at the state line. Under the federal Violence Against Women Act, every state, tribal government, and U.S. territory must recognize and enforce protection orders issued elsewhere as if they were their own.¹⁴ An Alabama order is enforceable in Georgia, Florida, or any other state without being re-filed or registered first. The enforcing state cannot require registration as a condition of enforcement, and it cannot notify the respondent of a filing unless the protected person asks it to.

For an out-of-state order to be enforceable in Alabama, the issuing court must have had proper jurisdiction and the respondent must have received reasonable notice and a chance to be heard. Ex parte orders from other states are still enforceable, so long as the issuing jurisdiction provides notice and a hearing within a reasonable time after issuing the order.

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-132 – Domestic Violence – Third Degree
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-130 – Domestic Violence – First Degree
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-131 – Domestic Violence – Second Degree
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-12 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
6
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-10-3 – Arrest Without Warrant
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-13-190 – Conditions of Release for Domestic Violence Arrests
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 30-5-7 – Ex Parte Orders or Modification of Protection Order
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-142 – Violation of a Domestic Violence Protection Order
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Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-72 – Certain Persons Forbidden to Possess Firearm
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
13
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 30-7-6 – Perpetrator Counseling Programs
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders