Assault 3 Under the RCW: Sentencing, Consequences, and Vacating

Assault in the third degree in Washington is a Class C felony under RCW 9A.36.031, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.¹² It sits above the gross misdemeanor of fourth-degree assault but below the first- and second-degree charges reserved for more serious violence. Most Assault 3 cases arise in one of two ways: an assault on someone whose job the legislature has singled out for protection, or bodily harm caused through criminal negligence with a weapon.

What the Statute Covers

Three paths into an Assault 3 charge account for most cases, and the required mental state differs across them.

Criminal Negligence With a Weapon

Under RCW 9A.36.031(1)(d), you can be charged if you act with criminal negligence and cause bodily harm by means of a weapon or other instrument likely to produce that harm.¹ Criminal negligence does not require any intent to injure. Under RCW 9A.08.010 it means failing to recognize a substantial risk of harm, where that failure was a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would have acted.³ Ordinary carelessness is not enough. Someone who handles a firearm carelessly at a gathering and causes injury can face this charge without ever meaning to hurt anyone.

Interfering With Legal Process or a Peace Officer

Subsection (1)(a) applies when a person assaults another with the specific intent to prevent or resist the execution of a lawful court order or legal process. Subsection (1)(g) covers assaulting a peace officer to prevent or resist a lawful arrest, investigative stop, or detention.¹ The severity of any injury does not matter for either subsection. What matters is that force was used against the officer or process, and that the underlying stop or process was lawful. Your belief that the arrest was unjustified is not a defense.

Assaults on Protected Workers

A large portion of the statute lists occupations whose members turn what would otherwise be a misdemeanor push or slap into a Class C felony. The victim must have been performing official duties at the time. Protected categories under RCW 9A.36.031(1)(b) through (k) include:¹

Law enforcement officers and other law enforcement agency employees on duty
Firefighters and other fire department, fire marshal, or fire district employees on duty
Transit workers, including bus, train, and ferry operators, their supervisors, mechanics, and security officers employed by public or private transit providers
School bus drivers, their supervisors, mechanics, and security officers working for school districts, private schools, or contracted carriers
Nurses, physicians, and other health care providers performing their professional duties
Judicial officers, court employees, county clerks, and their staff members while performing official duties
Employees of organizations contracted with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families or social service agencies
School employees as defined by state education law

A shove that would ordinarily be fourth-degree assault becomes a felony when the person shoved was a nurse treating you in an emergency room, a bus driver on a route, or a social worker on a home visit.

What You Actually Face at Sentencing

Five years is the ceiling, not the expected outcome. Washington sentences most felonies from a grid that cross-references the seriousness level of the offense with the defendant’s offender score, a number reflecting prior convictions.⁴ Most forms of Assault 3 carry a seriousness level of III.⁵

At that seriousness level, the standard sentencing ranges are:⁶

Offender score 0: 1 to 3 months
Offender score 1: 3 to 8 months
Offender score 2: 4 to 12 months
Offender score 3: 9 to 12 months
Offender score 4: 12+ to 16 months
Offender score 5: 17 to 22 months
Offender score 6: 22 to 29 months
Offender score 7: 33 to 43 months
Offender score 8: 43 to 57 months
Offender score 9 or more: 51 to 68 months

A person with no criminal history may be looking at a month or two. Someone at the top of the scale can serve nearly six years. The “12+” notation means one year and one day. That extra day matters because sentences of a year and a day or longer are served in a state correctional facility rather than county jail.

One narrow twist: assaulting a peace officer with a projectile stun gun under subsection (1)(h) scores at a higher seriousness level than other Assault 3 variants, producing longer standard ranges for the same criminal history.⁵

Community Custody After Release

Assault 3 is classified as a violent offense. When a sentence is served in a state facility, the court must add 18 months of community custody on top of the confinement term. Supervision comes with conditions: reporting to a community corrections officer, travel and residence restrictions, and often treatment requirements. Violations can send you back into confinement. If the combined confinement and community custody would exceed the five-year statutory maximum, the court must trim the community custody period to fit.⁷

When Force Is Legally Justified

Under RCW 9A.16.020, force is not unlawful when a person about to be injured uses it to prevent an offense against themselves, provided the force is not more than necessary. Proportionality is where most self-defense claims are won or lost. Punching someone who is actively attacking you reads very differently than hitting someone who shoved you once and walked away. The same statute allows reasonable force to prevent malicious interference with property in your possession, and to detain someone who unlawfully enters a building you occupy, as long as the detention is reasonable in duration and manner.⁸

Self-defense is an affirmative defense. Once the defendant raises it with supporting evidence, the prosecution must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. In cases involving protected workers, claiming self-defense means showing that the force used against you exceeded what the situation called for. Courts scrutinize these claims closely because health care staff and officers often have legal authority to use some degree of physical restraint.

Consequences That Outlast the Sentence

The prison term and fine are only part of what a conviction changes.

Firearms

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing firearms.⁹ Because Assault 3 carries a five-year maximum, a conviction triggers a lifetime federal firearms ban. The test looks at what the offense could have carried, not what your actual sentence was. A short sentence does not narrow the prohibition.

Immigration

For non-citizens, an Assault 3 conviction can create grounds for deportation. Federal immigration law treats crimes involving moral turpitude committed within five years of admission as deportable when the crime carries a potential sentence of one year or more. Whether Assault 3 qualifies depends on the subsection charged and the facts. Simple assault is generally not treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, but assault with a weapon or with intent to obstruct legal process may be. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should consult an immigration attorney before entering any plea.

Employment and Licensing

A felony assault conviction will appear on background checks and can disqualify you from health care, education, law enforcement, and other licensed professions. Commercial Driver License holders face steep consequences: a felony conviction can result in disqualification for at least one year on a first offense and a lifetime disqualification on a second. Using a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony triggers a lifetime disqualification even on a first offense.

Travel to Canada

Canada treats a felony assault conviction as potential grounds for denying entry. Under Canadian immigration law, a person with a criminal record may be found “criminally inadmissible” and barred from entering or transiting the country.¹⁰ You can apply for individual rehabilitation once at least five years have passed since completing your entire sentence, including probation and community custody, but the application can take over a year to process. A temporary resident permit is available for shorter-term needs but requires showing that your reason to enter outweighs any risk to Canadian society.

Voting

Voting rights come back automatically once you are no longer serving a sentence of total confinement under the Department of Corrections.¹¹ You need to re-register, but community custody does not block you from voting.

Civil Liability From the Same Incident

Criminal charges and a civil lawsuit can proceed from the same facts. An acquittal does not prevent the person you allegedly assaulted from suing you. In a civil case for battery the plaintiff only has to prove the claim by a preponderance of the evidence, which is a lower bar than beyond a reasonable doubt. A successful plaintiff can recover medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and therapy costs. Because assault and battery are intentional torts, courts can also award punitive damages.

Vacating the Conviction Later

Washington allows certain felony convictions to be vacated, which removes them from your record for most purposes. For Class C felonies, you can petition after five years have passed since completing all conditions of the sentence, including community custody. You must have no new convictions during that period and must meet the other statutory requirements. Vacating restores opportunities that a felony record forecloses, though the federal firearms prohibition can persist even after a state conviction is vacated. The process requires filing a motion with the sentencing court and showing that every statutory requirement is met.

1
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.36.031 – Assault in the Third Degree
2
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.20.021 – Maximum Sentences for Crimes Committed July 1, 1984, and After
3
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 9A.08 RCW – Principles of Liability
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.525 – Offender Score
5
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.515 – Table of Offenses and Seriousness Levels
6
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.510 – Sentencing Grid
7
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.701 – Community Custody Ranges
8
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9A.16.020 – Use of Force, When Lawful
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions
11
Washington State Legislature. RCW 29A.08.520 – Felony Convictions and Voting Rights