Assault and battery against a family or household member; penalty
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-57.2
in effectA. Any person who commits an assault and battery against a family or household member is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. Upon a conviction for assault and battery against a family or household member, where it is alleged in the warrant, petition, information, or indictment on which a person is convicted, that such person has been previously convicted of two offenses against a family or household member of (i) assault and battery against a family or household member in violation of this section, (ii) malicious wounding or unlawful wounding in violation of § 18.2-51 , (iii) aggravated malicious wounding in violation of § 18.2-51.2 , (iv) malicious bodily injury by means of a substance in violation of § 18.2-52 , (v) strangulation in violation of § 18.2-51.6 , or (vi) an offense under the law of any other jurisdiction which has the same elements of any of the above offenses, in any combination, all of which occurred within a period of 20 years, and each of which occurred on a different date, such person is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
C. Whenever a warrant for a violation of this section is issued, the magistrate shall issue an emergency protective order as authorized by § 16.1-253.4 , except if the defendant is a minor, an emergency protective order shall not be required.
D. The definition of "family or household member" in § 16.1-228 applies to this section.
1991, c. 238; 1992, cc. 526, 886; 1996, c. 866 ; 1997, c. 603 ; 1999, cc. 697 , 721 , 807 ; 2004, cc. 448 , 738 ; 2009, c. 726 ; 2014, c. 660 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-57.2/Fetched: 10/16/2026