Family Violence Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Texas has no stand-alone crime called domestic violence. The charge is usually assault, and the relationship between the two people adds consequences that begin at the first hearing and can outlast the sentence. This page explains the definitions, the penalty levels, how these cases are defended and how they move through Jefferson County.
What Is Family Violence In Texas?
Family Code § 71.004 defines family violence as an act by a family or household member against another that is intended to cause physical harm, bodily injury, assault or sexual assault, or a threat that places the person in fear of imminent harm. It also covers dating violence. The criminal charge is usually assault under Penal Code § 22.01.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Family Violence?
In practice the criminal charge is almost always assault under Penal Code § 22.01. The relationship between the two people is what sets the case apart, because it brings findings, orders, bond terms and later enhancement that surround the charge.
Under Family Code § 71.004, family violence is an act by one member of a family or household against another, intended to cause physical harm, bodily injury, assault or sexual assault, or a threat that reasonably places that person in fear of imminent harm. Dating violence has a parallel definition in § 71.0021.
Who counts is wider than a spouse:
- Relatives by blood or marriage, and former spouses
- People who share a child
- People who live together in one home, related or not
- People in a continuing romantic or intimate relationship
Four things that can start at the arrest:
- A magistrate can issue an emergency protective order at the bond hearing
- Bond conditions can bar contact and keep the accused out of a shared home
- A family violence finding can be entered in the judgment
- Firearm limits can attach under state and federal law
Arrests in Jefferson County can come from Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department, and each agency sends the case to the same prosecutor, the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
The state, not the complaining witness, decides whether the case goes forward. A witness can say they want it dropped, and that is information the prosecutor weighs, but it is not a dismissal.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Family Violence In Texas?
The punishment follows the underlying assault, and the relationship decides what else attaches to it. A first bodily injury assault is a Class A misdemeanor, as with any other. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
The fine can reach $4,000.
The fine can reach $10,000.
The span is 91 to 121 days if a deadly weapon was involved.
- Bodily injury assault
- Class A misdemeanor. Up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
- With a qualifying prior
- Third degree felony under § 22.01(b)(2)(A). Two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Deferred adjudication counts as a prior under § 22.01(f).
- Impeding breath or circulation
- Third degree felony under § 22.01(b)(2)(B), for pressure on the throat or neck or for blocking the nose or mouth.
- Continuous violence
- Third degree felony under § 25.11 for two or more qualifying assaults within twelve months.
- Protective order violation
- A separate offense under Penal Code § 25.07.
- Family violence finding
- The court enters the finding in the judgment under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42.013.
- Firearms
- A conviction triggers the federal prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Texas adds a five year restriction under Penal Code § 46.04(b).
A separate civil protective order can also be sought under the Family Code. It is its own case with its own hearing, and it runs on a different schedule from the criminal one.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Family Violence In Texas?
Can I return home after a family violence arrest?
How long does a family violence finding last?
What if both people were hurt?
Does a dating relationship count?
Does a plea to a lesser charge remove the finding?
Possible Defenses
How Can Family Violence Be Defended?
These cases are often built from the accounts of two people who know each other, plus whatever physical evidence exists. An attorney looks at what is corroborated, what conflicts and what the state can actually prove. No result can be promised.
Self-defense and defense of others under Chapter 9 apply in family cases as in any assault. When the evidence raises them, the state must disprove them beyond a reasonable doubt.
The orders run on their own track.
The magistrate's emergency order is only the first one. A civil protective order under the Family Code can follow, with its own hearing, and statements made at a civil hearing can be offered in the criminal case, so the two proceedings are linked.
Violating either kind of order is an offense under § 25.07, and the protected person's consent is not a defense. If a weapon was used or the injury was serious, the state may file aggravated assault instead.
The Relationship
Does the relationship actually fit the Family Code definition?
Who Was The Aggressor
Was one person defending themselves, and is there proof of who began it?
The Injury
Do the photographs and any medical records match the account?
Breath Or Circulation
Is there physical or medical evidence of pressure on the neck, or only the allegation?
The Recordings
What do the 911 audio, body camera and message history show?
Earlier Cases
Does a prior really qualify to enhance the charge, deferred adjudication included?
Local Process
What Happens After A Family Violence Arrest In Jefferson County?
The first appearance, the protective order and discovery follow Texas law. The court, the prosecutor and the booking below are those of Jefferson County.
Magistration
The person is booked and taken before a magistrate, who sets bond and conditions. An emergency protective order under art. 17.292 can issue at this hearing.
Charging And Discovery
A misdemeanor proceeds on a complaint and information, and a felony goes to a grand jury. The defense can request the 911 recording, body camera video, photographs and written statements under article 39.14.
Resolution
The case can end in dismissal, a plea, deferred adjudication where the court allows it, or a trial.
- Where it is filed
- A misdemeanor is filed in one of the Jefferson County Courts at Law. A felony is heard in the district courts at the Jefferson County Courthouse on 1085 Pearl Street after an indictment.
- Who prosecutes
- Felonies are prosecuted by the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Misdemeanors are handled by prosecutors in Jefferson County.
- Who makes the arrest
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Family Violence Charge?
Treat these as general information, not advice for your own facts.
Read Every Order
Know exactly what it bars, including contact, the home and firearms.
Do Not Contact The Other Person
Even a friendly message can break an order, and a violation is its own offense.
Ask Before Moving Firearms
An order can require surrender, so get advice before selling or relocating them.
Keep Your Own Records
Save messages, call logs and photographs, and list any witnesses.
Plan Housing Without Contact
If you cannot go home, arrange somewhere to stay without reaching out to the other person.
Stay Off Social Media
Posts about the other person or the case are available to the state.
Speak with a lawyer before signing an affidavit, giving a statement or accepting any resolution, because the finding affects firearms and record sealing. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about a family violence charge in Jefferson County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Family Code Chapter 71: Definitions of family violence, family, household and dating relationship
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 22: Assault and family violence enhancements
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 25: Protective order violations and continuous violence
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 46: State firearm prohibitions
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 17: Bail and emergency protective orders
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42: Judgments, including the family violence finding
- Texas Government Code Chapter 411: Orders of nondisclosure
- Federal firearm prohibitions, 18 U.S.C. § 922
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Assault Charges
Other Assault Charges Handled In Beaumont, TX
A family violence arrest can be filed under several statutes, and the relationship raises the stakes on all of them. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Beaumont.
Assault
Three offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
An assault plus serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon. A second degree felony, and first degree in a narrow set of cases.
Vehicular Assault
Not a Texas statute by that name. A crash that hurts someone is charged under a different law, and which one decides the range.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless danger to another person is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing a gun at people or toward a building or vehicle is a third degree felony.
Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person
A felony at every level, graded by the injury and the mental state, and chargeable for a failure to act as well as for an act.
Kidnapping
Unlawful restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three levels of one idea, from a Class A misdemeanor to a first degree felony.
Terroristic Threats
A threat of violence can be a crime without any contact. The level runs from a Class B misdemeanor to a third degree felony.
Common Questions
Family Violence Questions People In Beaumont Ask
Can the complaining witness drop a family violence charge in Beaumont, TX?
The State of Texas prosecutes the case, not the person who made the report. The witness can tell the prosecutor they do not want it to go forward, and can sign an affidavit saying so, but the decision to proceed, reduce or dismiss belongs to the prosecutor's office. The office may also rely on 911 recordings and officer observations.
How long does an emergency protective order last in Jefferson County?
Under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 17.292, as amended in 2025, a magistrate's order for emergency protection runs a minimum of 61 days and a maximum of 91 days. If the arrest involved the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon, the range is 91 to 121 days. Violating the order is a separate offense under Penal Code § 25.07.
Does a family violence charge affect gun rights in Beaumont, TX?
A conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence triggers the federal prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Penal Code § 46.04(b) separately makes it an offense to possess a firearm for five years after release from confinement or community supervision on a Class A family violence assault. A protective order can carry its own firearm limits.
How does Texas define family violence in Jefferson County cases?
Family Code § 71.004 defines it as an act by a member of a family or household against another member that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault or sexual assault, or a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent harm. Family Code § 71.0021 separately covers dating violence.
Can a family violence assault become a felony in Beaumont, TX?
Under Penal Code § 22.01(b)(2), an assault against a person in a family, household or dating relationship is a third degree felony when the accused has a qualifying prior conviction, or when the offense impeded the person's normal breathing or blood circulation. Continuous violence against the family under § 25.11 is also a third degree felony.
Can a family violence case in Beaumont, TX be sealed with a nondisclosure?
Government Code § 411.074 limits orders of nondisclosure when the offense involved family violence, with a narrow exception for fine-only offenses. That limit applies even when the case ended in deferred adjudication. A case that is dismissed or ends in acquittal is a different question and falls under the expunction statute.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
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