Is assault a felony?

In some states, assault means attempting or threatening to hurt someone. In others, it also covers actually causing an injury.^1,2,3,4

California defines assault as an unlawful attempt, with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on another person. Florida defines it as an intentional, unlawful threat to do violence, together with an apparent ability to carry it out and an act that creates a well-founded fear that violence is about to happen. Texas covers causing bodily injury and also threatening someone with imminent bodily injury. New York's third-degree assault is about causing physical injury.

Simple assault is the basic charge, with no weapon and little or no injury. Aggravated assault is the more serious charge. It usually involves a deadly weapon, serious injury, an intent to commit another felony, or a victim such as a police officer.^{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}

Not every state uses these labels. New York grades assault by degree (third, second and first). Ohio calls its serious version felonious assault. North Carolina keeps misdemeanor assault in one law and puts felony assault with a deadly weapon in a separate one.

Simple assault, with no weapon, no serious injury and no special type of victim, is a misdemeanor. That is true in each of the ten states we checked.^{2,3,4,6,10,12,13,14,15,16}

The label differs. Texas uses Class A and Class C misdemeanors, Florida a second-degree misdemeanor, New York a class A misdemeanor, Illinois a Class C misdemeanor, Pennsylvania a second-degree misdemeanor, Ohio a first-degree misdemeanor, North Carolina a Class 2 misdemeanor and Virginia a Class 1 misdemeanor. California and Georgia simply call it a misdemeanor.

Some states grade a threat lower than an assault that causes injury. In Texas, causing bodily injury is a Class A misdemeanor, while threatening someone with imminent bodily injury is a Class C misdemeanor.^3,14,17

Texas Penal Code § 22.01(c) makes threats, and causing physical contact the person will regard as offensive, Class C misdemeanors. Section 22.01(b) makes bodily-injury assault a Class A misdemeanor unless a felony rule applies. Illinois draws a similar line by separating assault, which is a threat and a Class C misdemeanor, from battery, which involves harm or contact and is a Class A misdemeanor.

Assault with a deadly weapon is a felony in most states. Some states label it aggravated assault.^{3,5,6,7,9,11,18,19}

Texas makes it a second-degree felony, Florida a third-degree felony, Pennsylvania a second-degree felony and Ohio a second-degree felony. New York makes causing physical injury with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument a class D felony. Georgia punishes it by one to 20 years in prison. California lets the same conduct be punished in state prison or in county jail for up to one year. Illinois is an exception: using a deadly weapon without firing it is a Class A misdemeanor aggravated assault there, though discharging a firearm is a Class 4 felony.

Causing serious injury turns assault into a felony in many states.^3,6,9,18,20

Texas treats assault that causes serious bodily injury as a second-degree felony. Pennsylvania makes attempting or causing serious bodily injury under circumstances showing extreme indifference to human life a first-degree felony. New York makes intentionally causing serious physical injury a class D felony. Ohio makes knowingly causing serious physical harm a second-degree felony. North Carolina makes assault inflicting serious bodily injury a Class F felony, and defines that term as bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death, causes serious permanent disfigurement or coma, causes a permanent or protracted condition with extreme pain, causes permanent or protracted loss or impairment of a body part or organ, or results in prolonged hospitalization.

Many states make it a felony to assault a police officer or certain other workers while they do their jobs, even when no weapon is used.^{3,6,8,15,18,21}

Texas makes injuring a public servant on duty a third-degree felony, and a second-degree felony when the victim is a peace officer or judge. Pennsylvania makes causing bodily injury to listed officers and workers a second-degree felony. Ohio makes assault on a peace officer a fourth-degree felony. Illinois makes aggravated assault on a peace officer, firefighter or correctional officer a Class 4 felony. North Carolina makes an assault with a deadly weapon on a government officer or employee a Class E felony.

An assault committed with the intent to commit another serious crime can be a felony. Florida and Georgia both name this.^5,7

Florida counts an assault "with an intent to commit a felony" as aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Georgia counts an assault "with intent to murder, to rape, or to rob" as aggravated assault, punishable by one to 20 years.

In some states, repeat assault convictions can turn a new misdemeanor assault into a felony. North Carolina calls this habitual misdemeanor assault.²²

A person commits habitual misdemeanor assault in North Carolina by committing a misdemeanor assault that causes physical injury, or certain other assaults, and having two or more prior convictions for misdemeanor assault, felony assault or a related offense. The earlier of the two prior convictions must be no more than 15 years old. It is a Class H felony.

Texas

Texas: Assault that causes bodily injury is a Class A misdemeanor. Aggravated assault, which involves serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon, is a second-degree felony.³

Under Texas Penal Code § 22.01, assault that causes bodily injury becomes a third-degree felony in listed situations, including when the victim is a public servant on duty, a family or household member and the person has a qualifying prior conviction or impedes breathing, or someone the person knows is pregnant. It becomes a second-degree felony when the victim is a peace officer or judge on duty. Section 22.02 makes aggravated assault a first-degree felony in some cases, such as when a deadly weapon is used and causes serious bodily injury to a family or household member.

Florida

Florida: Assault is a second-degree misdemeanor. Aggravated assault is a third-degree felony.^2,5

Aggravated assault in Florida is an assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, or an assault with an intent to commit a felony. Assault in furtherance of a riot is a first-degree misdemeanor.

California

California: Simple assault is a misdemeanor. Assault with a deadly weapon, or by force likely to produce great bodily injury, can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor.^12,19,23

Under Penal Code § 241, simple assault carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. The jail limit is one year when the victim is a peace officer, firefighter or another listed worker on duty. Under § 245(a)(1) and (a)(4), assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, or by force likely to produce great bodily injury, is punishable by two, three or four years in state prison or up to one year in county jail. Section 17(b) lets a court or prosecutor treat an offense with that kind of choice of punishment as a misdemeanor in the situations it lists.

New York

New York: Assault in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor. Assault in the second degree is a class D felony, and assault in the first degree is a class B felony.^4,18,24

Third-degree assault covers intentionally or recklessly causing physical injury, or causing it with criminal negligence by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. Second-degree assault includes intending to cause serious physical injury and doing so, causing physical injury with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, and injuring a police officer or other listed worker to stop them from doing their job. First-degree assault includes intending to cause serious physical injury by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, and intending to disfigure someone seriously and permanently.

Georgia

Georgia: Simple assault is a misdemeanor. Aggravated assault is a felony punishable by one to 20 years in prison.^7,13

Simple assault in Georgia means attempting to commit a violent injury to someone, or doing an act that puts them in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury. Some versions, such as assault between family or household members or on a pregnant woman, are punished as a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. Aggravated assault includes assault with intent to murder, rape or rob, with a deadly weapon or an object likely to cause serious bodily injury, and with an object likely to cause strangulation. The minimum is higher in some cases, such as three years when the victim is 65 or older.

Illinois

Illinois: Assault is a Class C misdemeanor. Aggravated assault is a Class A misdemeanor in many cases, but a Class 4 or Class 3 felony in others.^8,14

Illinois defines assault as knowingly placing someone in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery. Aggravated assault based on location, on victims such as people 60 or older, or on using a deadly weapon without firing it is generally a Class A misdemeanor. It is a Class 4 felony when the victim is a peace officer, firefighter or correctional officer, or when the person discharges a firearm other than from a motor vehicle. Discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle is a Class 3 felony.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: Simple assault is a second-degree misdemeanor. Aggravated assault is a first-degree or second-degree felony.⁶

Simple assault drops to a third-degree misdemeanor if it happens in a fight both people agreed to, and rises to a first-degree misdemeanor if an adult 18 or older commits it against a child under 12. Aggravated assault is a first-degree felony in the most serious cases, such as causing serious bodily injury with extreme indifference to human life, or causing serious bodily injury to a child under 13. It is a second-degree felony in other cases, including causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon.

Ohio

Ohio: Assault is a first-degree misdemeanor. Felonious assault, which means causing serious physical harm or using a deadly weapon, is a second-degree felony.^9,15

Ohio's assault law makes it a crime to knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm, or to recklessly cause serious physical harm. It becomes a felony in listed situations, such as a fourth-degree felony when the victim is a peace officer. Felonious assault is a first-degree felony if the victim is a peace officer or an investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation.

Federal law makes it a crime to forcibly assault, resist or interfere with certain federal officers and employees. Simple assault carries up to one year. Physical contact or intent to commit another felony carries up to eight years. Using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing bodily injury carries up to 20 years.²⁵

This is 18 U.S.C. § 111. It applies to people covered by 18 U.S.C. § 1114, which lists certain federal officers and employees.

In California, an offense that can be punished in state prison or in county jail can be recorded as a misdemeanor. The law lists when this happens, including when a court grants probation and declares it a misdemeanor.²³

Penal Code § 17(b) also covers a prosecutor filing the charge as a misdemeanor, and a judge deciding before trial that the offense is a misdemeanor. Section 17(e) adds that this does not let a judge excuse a person from registration under Section 290 when the offense requires it and the person was found guilty.