Under Texas Family Code Section 71.004, “family violence” covers three kinds of conduct: a violent or threatening act between family or household members, certain child abuse committed within the family, and dating violence.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.004 – Family Violence Whether a given incident fits that definition decides a lot: whether a court can issue a protective order, whether a later contact becomes a crime, and whether federal law strips the person of the right to possess a firearm.
The Three Categories of Conduct
Section 71.004 reaches three distinct types of behavior.
The first is an act by a family or household member against another family or household member that is intended to cause physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault. A threat that reasonably places someone in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault also counts, even if no contact occurs. The statute carves out self-defense: measures taken to defend yourself against another person’s attack are not family violence.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.004 – Family Violence That exception comes up often in contested protective order hearings.
The second is abuse of a child of the family or household. Section 71.004 pulls its definition from Section 261.001 of the Family Code, which treats conduct such as causing physical injury that results in substantial harm, sexual conduct harmful to a child’s welfare, compelling a child into sexual conduct, exposing a child to controlled substances, and forcing a child into marriage as abuse. Accidental injury and reasonable discipline that does not place the child at substantial risk of harm are excluded.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code 261.001 – Definitions
The third is dating violence, defined separately in Section 71.0021. It covers acts intended to cause physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault against someone the actor has or has had a dating relationship with, along with threats that reasonably create fear of imminent harm. Self-defense is again excluded.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.0021 – Dating Violence
Who Counts as a Family Member
Because the first category only applies between family or household members, those relationship definitions do real work. Section 71.003 lists four groups who qualify as “family” for family violence purposes.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.003 – Family
The first group is people related by consanguinity (blood) or affinity (marriage), with the specifics drawn from the Texas Government Code. Two people are related by blood if one descends from the other or they share a common ancestor, which captures parents, children, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.5State of Texas. Texas Government Code 573.022 – Determination of Consanguinity Affinity reaches spouses of each other and the blood relatives of a spouse — in everyday terms, in-laws and step-relatives. Divorce or a spouse’s death generally ends affinity relationships, but if a child was born of the marriage, those relationships continue as long as that child is alive.6State of Texas. Texas Government Code 573.024 – Determination of Affinity
The second group is former spouses. The statute does not set a time limit, and remarriage by either party does not remove the status.
The third group is two people who are the parents of the same child, “without regard to marriage.” They need not have ever lived together or been in a relationship; the shared child is enough.
The fourth group is a foster child and foster parent, whether or not they currently share a home.
Household Members Count Too
Section 71.004 also reaches violence between people who live together, even when they are not related. Under Section 71.005, a “household” means a unit composed of people living together in the same dwelling, with no requirement that they be related by blood or marriage.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code 71.005 – Household Roommates and unmarried partners who share a home are therefore within reach of the family violence framework.
What a Finding of Family Violence Triggers
At the close of a hearing, the court must decide whether family violence occurred. If it finds that it did, the court is required to issue a protective order against the person who committed the violence.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 85.001 – Requirements for Order Applying to Party Who Committed Family Violence A protective order generally lasts up to two years, and if the court sets no duration, it expires on the second anniversary of issuance. The court can extend an order beyond two years if the respondent committed a felony involving family violence, caused serious bodily injury, or has been the subject of two or more prior protective orders protecting the same person.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order
Criminal Penalties for Violating the Order
Once an order is in place, Penal Code Section 25.07 makes violating it a crime, with the grade rising based on history and conduct.
- The baseline violation is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
- The offense is a state jail felony when the defendant violates a protective order issued after a criminal conviction or deferred adjudication, where that order was meant to protect the victim of the underlying offense.
- The offense is a third-degree felony if the defendant has two or more prior convictions for protective order violations, or if the violation itself involves an assault or stalking.
Convictions from other states for substantially similar offenses count toward the prior-conviction thresholds.10State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 25.07 – Violation of Certain Court Orders or Conditions of Bond in a Family Violence Case
Federal Firearm Ban
A qualifying protective order triggers a federal prohibition on possessing, shipping, or receiving any firearm or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). Three conditions must be met: the respondent received actual notice and had an opportunity to participate in the hearing; the order restrains the respondent from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or child; and the order either includes a finding that the respondent is a credible threat to the safety of that partner or child, or it explicitly prohibits the use of physical force against them.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts A violation can bring up to ten years in federal prison.
For firearm purposes, federal law treats current and former spouses, people who cohabitate or have cohabitated in a romantic relationship, and people who share a child as intimate partners. The overlap with Texas family violence law is close but not complete. An ex parte order issued without notice and a hearing can be enforceable under Texas law but will not meet the federal threshold.
Interstate Enforcement
A Texas protective order travels. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2265, every court in the country must give full faith and credit to a protective order issued elsewhere and enforce it as if it were local, provided the issuing court had jurisdiction and the respondent received notice and an opportunity to be heard. The protected person does not have to register the order in a new state for it to be enforceable there.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
Crossing a state, tribal, or territorial boundary with the intent to violate a protective order is a separate federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 2262, with penalties that scale to the harm caused:
- Up to 5 years for a general violation, including acts against a protected pet or service animal.
- Up to 10 years if the violation causes serious bodily injury or involves a dangerous weapon.
- Up to 20 years if the violation causes permanent disfigurement or life-threatening bodily injury.
- Up to life if the victim dies.
Prosecutors must prove the defendant actually crossed the boundary with the intent to violate the order and then engaged in conduct that violated it.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order