A Class C assault in Texas is the lowest level of assault charge under state law. It covers threats of imminent bodily injury and offensive or provocative physical contact where no one is actually hurt. The maximum penalty is a $500 fine with no jail time attached to the conviction itself.1State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 12.23 – Class C Misdemeanor That sounds minor, and in isolation it is. But the charge still creates a permanent criminal record, and if the other person is a family member, household member, or dating partner, the consequences change dramatically.
What Conduct Counts
Texas Penal Code Section 22.01 defines three kinds of assault. Two of them can be charged as Class C: threatening someone with imminent bodily injury, and making physical contact with someone when you know or should know they’ll find it offensive or provocative.2State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.01 – Assault Neither requires actual pain or injury. What matters is the act and how the other person reasonably perceived it.
The threat version applies when you make someone genuinely believe you’re about to hurt them. Standing over someone with a raised fist and saying you’re going to hit them is a classic example. The offensive-contact version is broader than most people expect. Shoving someone during an argument, poking a finger into their chest, or spitting on them all fit. The contact doesn’t need to leave a mark. It only needs to be the kind a reasonable person would find offensive.
Where the Line Is
The moment any actual bodily injury enters the picture, the charge is no longer Class C. Assault causing bodily injury is at least a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.2State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.01 – Assault Even a split lip, a bruise, or pain beyond momentary discomfort can move it up. Shove someone and they stumble but are fine? Class C. Same shove causes them to fall and scrape their palms? A prosecutor can charge Class A.
The identity of the other person matters too. Offensive contact against an elderly person is a Class A misdemeanor even without injury. If the case involves an on-duty public servant or certain other protected workers, and bodily injury results, the charge can climb to a third-degree felony.2State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.01 – Assault
The Penalty and What It Really Costs
A Class C assault is a Class C misdemeanor, the same category as a traffic ticket. The maximum fine is $500, and the conviction itself carries no jail sentence.1State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 12.23 – Class C Misdemeanor Most people receive a citation rather than getting booked into jail.
The small fine is misleading. Courts add administrative fees and court costs on top, and a judge may order community service or counseling. The bigger cost is the record. A conviction shows up on background checks for jobs, apartments, and professional licenses, and employers tend to react poorly to anything with the word “assault” attached, whatever its class.
One warning worth taking seriously: a Class C charge is “fine-only” only if you handle it properly. Failing to appear in court or refusing to pay the fine can trigger an arrest warrant, and a person who willfully refuses to pay may be ordered to sit the fine out in jail.
When Family Violence Is Involved
If the person you’re accused of assaulting is a family member, someone in your household, or a current or former dating partner, the case picks up a “family violence” designation. The offense stays a Class C misdemeanor on a first offense, but almost everything else about it changes.
You can’t just mail in a fine. A Class C assault with a family violence finding requires an in-person court appearance, a plea, and fingerprinting, with the conviction reported to the Department of Public Safety for your criminal record.3Texas Law Help. Class C and Fine-Only Misdemeanors
The finding also reshapes any future case. If you’re later charged with assault causing bodily injury against a family member, household member, or dating partner, and this prior family violence conviction is on your record, prosecutors can charge the new offense as a third-degree felony instead of a misdemeanor. That carries two to ten years in prison.2State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 22.01 – Assault
Federal Firearm Ban
Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(9), anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is barred from possessing any firearm or ammunition.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The ban reaches a Class C conviction as long as the offense involved the use or attempted use of physical force (or the threat of a deadly weapon) and the other person was a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, someone you lived with, or a dating partner.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Prohibitions
For most qualifying relationships, the ban is permanent, with no path to restore firearm rights short of expunction or a pardon. For dating-relationship convictions entered after June 25, 2022, a limited restoration may be possible after five years. That exception does not apply to convictions involving spouses, co-parents, or people you lived with.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Prohibitions
Defenses That Actually Work
Self-defense is the most direct. Texas law allows you to use force against another person when you reasonably believe it’s immediately necessary to protect yourself from their unlawful use of force.6State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 9.31 – Self-Defense Your response has to be proportional. Tackling someone who poked you in the chest won’t clear the bar. And verbal provocation alone never justifies physical force, no matter how ugly the words.
Consent cuts the other way. If the other person agreed to the contact, it becomes hard for a prosecutor to prove the contact was offensive or provocative. The statute turns on whether you knew or should have known the other person would view it that way, and in genuine consensual horseplay that element rarely holds up. The self-defense statute itself recognizes the same idea from the opposite angle, stating that force isn’t justified when you consented to the exact force the other person used.6State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 9.31 – Self-Defense
Many Class C assault cases come down to credibility. With no witnesses or video, a defense attorney can challenge whether the contact was truly offensive, whether a threat was genuinely imminent, or whether the incident happened as described. The prosecution carries the burden of proof, and reasonable doubt does real work in cases that reduce to one person’s word against another’s.
Avoiding a Conviction With Deferred Disposition
For a first-time Class C assault, the most valuable move is often to avoid a conviction in the first place. Under Article 45.051 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a court handling a fine-only misdemeanor can offer deferred disposition. You plead guilty or no contest, the judge holds off on entering a finding of guilt, and you serve a probation-like period with conditions.
Conditions can include posting a bond, paying restitution, attending counseling, submitting to substance-abuse testing, or completing an alcohol-awareness or driving safety course.7State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 45.051 – Deferred Disposition Complete everything and the charge is dismissed. No conviction ever attaches to your record.
Deferred disposition isn’t automatic. Judges have discretion, and prosecutors often push back in family violence cases or where the defendant has prior offenses. If it is offered, treat the conditions as strict deadlines. Fall short, and the court enters the conviction.
Clearing the Record Afterward
If your case was dismissed or you completed deferred disposition, you may be eligible for expunction. The waiting period for a Class C misdemeanor is 180 days from arrest, provided the charge didn’t end in a final conviction and no felony charge came out of the same incident.8Justia. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55 – Expunction Expunction wipes the arrest as though it never happened.
If you were convicted instead, expunction generally isn’t available. The next option is an order of nondisclosure, which seals the record from most public background checks. Convictions under Section 22.01 can be petitioned under Government Code Section 411.0735.9Texas Office of Court Administration. Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure
There’s one absolute stop. If the court entered an affirmative finding that the offense involved family violence, you are ineligible for an order of nondisclosure.9Texas Office of Court Administration. Overview of Orders of Nondisclosure That finding stays on your record permanently. It’s one more reason the family violence designation matters far more than the $500 ceiling suggests.