Domestic Assault Lawyer in Gallatin, TN

An assault charge can bring a no-contact order the day you are arrested, which may keep you out of your own home. Talk to a lawyer before your first court date.

 

How Tennessee grades assault

• Assault (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-101): causing bodily injury, or causing someone to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury, is a Class A misdemeanor. Physical contact that a reasonable person would find extremely offensive or provocative is a Class B misdemeanor.

• Aggravated assault (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-102) is a felony: generally Class C when intentional or knowing and involving serious bodily injury, a deadly weapon or strangulation, and Class D when reckless.

• Domestic assault (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-111) is an assault against a "domestic abuse victim": a current or former spouse, someone you live or lived with, someone you date or dated, relatives by blood, adoption or marriage, and their children.

 

What a domestic assault charge can mean

• The 12-hour hold. After a domestic arrest you generally must be held 12 hours unless a magistrate finds in writing that you are not a threat to the alleged victim. Release conditions can include no contact, staying away from the home, and no firearms (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-11-150).

• GPS monitoring. Since July 1, 2024, a court must order GPS monitoring, at your expense, on an aggravated assault charge against a domestic abuse victim, unless it finds in writing that you no longer pose a threat (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-11-150).

• Firearms. A domestic assault conviction requires you to give up all firearms within 48 hours (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-111). Possessing a firearm after that conviction, or while under a qualifying order of protection, is a separate crime (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307).

• Mandatory jail. At least 30 consecutive days for a second conviction, and at least 30 days for a conviction involving strangulation or attempted strangulation. A third or later conviction for domestic assault causing bodily injury is a Class E felony with at least 90 consecutive days (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-111).

• Your record. A domestic assault conviction cannot be expunged in Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-32-107).

 

Diversion. Domestic assault is excluded from pretrial diversion (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-15-105) but not from judicial diversion (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313), so a qualifying first-time defendant may ask for it. Completing judicial diversion leads to dismissal.

 

Orders of protection. An order of protection is a separate case. If one is issued against you, you may have to give up your firearms within 48 hours (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-625). What you say at that hearing can affect the criminal case, so talk to us first.