Domestic violence can be either a misdemeanor or a felony in Georgia, and which one depends on the specific act, the severity of the injuries, and whether the defendant has prior convictions. A first offense involving minor physical contact is usually charged as a misdemeanor. A second family violence battery conviction is automatically a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-23.1 – Battery More serious acts, such as aggravated assault or aggravated battery against a household member, are felonies from the start and carry three to twenty years.
Georgia has no single crime called “domestic violence.” The Family Violence Act treats certain existing offenses as family violence when they occur between people in specific relationships, and that classification is what triggers the enhanced penalties.
Who Counts as a Family or Household Member
Under O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1, the qualifying relationships include past or present spouses, parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, and people who live or formerly lived in the same household.2Justia. Georgia Code 19-13-1 – Family Violence Defined Siblings sharing a household are covered under the general definition, but several of the enhanced-penalty statutes specifically exclude siblings.
The underlying criminal acts that qualify include battery, simple battery, assault, simple assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, and criminal trespass. Any felony committed between qualifying individuals also counts as family violence.2Justia. Georgia Code 19-13-1 – Family Violence Defined
When the Charge Is a Misdemeanor
Most first-time family violence charges are misdemeanors, but Georgia draws an important distinction between simple battery and battery in the domestic context.
Simple battery involves intentionally making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature, or intentionally causing minor physical harm. Between family or household members, it is charged as a “misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature” rather than a standard misdemeanor.3Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-23 – Simple Battery That classification carries a fine of up to $5,000 and up to 12 months in jail, compared to the $1,000 maximum for a standard misdemeanor.
Battery involves intentionally causing substantial physical harm or visible bodily harm. A first conviction for family violence battery is a misdemeanor, but a second conviction crosses the line into felony territory.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-23.1 – Battery
When the Charge Is a Felony
A Second Family Violence Battery
A second or subsequent conviction for family violence battery is automatically a felony, whether the victim is the same person as the first case or a different person. The sentence is one to five years in state prison.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-23.1 – Battery This is the most common route from a misdemeanor domestic violence case to a felony one. Prosecutors routinely pull criminal history records, and a prior conviction from years earlier will trigger the felony enhancement even if the new incident looks relatively minor.
Aggravated Assault Against a Family Member
An assault committed with intent to murder, rape, or rob, or involving a deadly weapon or strangulation, is aggravated assault, which is a felony regardless of any prior history. In a domestic context the penalty range is enhanced to three to twenty years, compared with the standard one-to-twenty-year range when the parties are strangers.4Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-21 – Aggravated Assault The three-year minimum rules out a probation-only sentence.
Aggravated Battery Against a Family Member
Aggravated battery means maliciously causing bodily harm that deprives the victim of a body part, renders a body part useless, or causes serious disfigurement. When the victim is a family or household member, the sentence is three to twenty years.5Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-24 – Aggravated Battery Like aggravated assault, the enhanced range applies automatically based on the relationship.
Aggravated Stalking
Stalking becomes aggravated stalking, a felony, when the conduct occurs in violation of a protective order, bond condition, or other court order. A person who follows, surveils, or contacts another in violation of such an order for the purpose of harassing and intimidating them can be charged with this offense.6Justia. Georgia Code 16-5-91 – Aggravated Stalking It often arises when someone under a Temporary Protective Order keeps contacting the victim despite the order.
Consequences That Follow Either Way
Firearms
A domestic violence conviction can cost you your gun rights even when the charge is only a misdemeanor. Federal law bars any convicted felon from possessing firearms, but 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) extends that ban to anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as well.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A first-offense family violence battery conviction, misdemeanor under Georgia law, still triggers a permanent federal firearms prohibition.
Child Custody and Visitation
Under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-7, a judge may award visitation to a parent who has committed family violence only after finding that adequate safety provisions can be made for the child and the victimized parent. When visitation is allowed, the court can require supervised visits, completion of a Family Violence Intervention Program, and no overnight stays. The court can also keep the child’s and victim’s address confidential, and it cannot order the victim into joint counseling with the perpetrator as a condition of custody or visitation.8Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-7 – Visitation by Parent Who Has Committed Acts of Family Violence A felony conviction makes any form of unsupervised custody very hard to obtain.
Immigration
Noncitizens face serious federal consequences. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i), any noncitizen convicted after admission of a “crime of domestic violence” is deportable.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens The federal definition pulls in any offense that has the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force as an element. Felony aggravated assault and aggravated battery clearly qualify, and some misdemeanors do as well.
Your Criminal Record
Georgia generally allows people to petition for restriction, or sealing, of certain misdemeanor convictions after a waiting period. Family violence convictions get special treatment. Misdemeanor family violence battery, simple battery, simple assault, stalking, and violations of family violence orders are excluded from record restriction unless the person was under 21 at the time of arrest. Felony convictions require a pardon from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles before restriction can even be considered, and certain serious violent felonies are permanently excluded. In practice, a Georgia family violence conviction tends to stay on your record for life.