Virginia Assault and Battery Laws: Charges and Penalties (2026)

Virginia does not have a separate battery crime. Va. Code 18.2-57(A)(1) punishes "a simple assault or assault and battery" as a single Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 (Va. Code 18.2-11(a)), and the Supreme Court of Virginia treats assault and battery as common-law crimes whose meaning comes from court decisions rather than a statutory definition.

Assault and battery becomes a Class 6 felony only in the situations the statute names: when the person knows or has reason to know the victim is a judge, police officer, firefighter, emergency medical services worker or another listed official on duty; when a hate-motivated assault and battery causes bodily injury; or on a third family-or-household offense within 20 years. Wounding someone with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill is a separate, more serious felony under Va. Code 18.2-51. For other states, see our guide to assault and battery laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-13. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Virginia's assault and battery and wounding offenses in Title 18.2, Chapter 4 of the Code of Virginia (sections 18.2-51 through 18.2-52, 18.2-55 and 18.2-57 through 18.2-57.3), the felony and misdemeanor penalty sections 18.2-10 and 18.2-11, the firearm bars in 18.2-308.1:8 and 18.2-308.2(A1), the family-or-household definition in 16.1-228, and the civil filing periods in 8.01-243 and tolling rule in 8.01-229. It does not cover self-defense and justification (see Virginia self-defense laws), protective orders (see Virginia restraining order laws), sexual offenses, federal assault crimes (covered on the assault and battery hub) or local ordinances.

Assault vs. battery in Virginia

Many states make assault and battery two separate crimes. Virginia charges them under one statute. Section 18.2-57(A)(1) reads in full: "Any person who commits a simple assault or assault and battery is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor." A threat-type assault and a completed assault and battery carry the same grade.

The statute does not say what assault or battery means. In Montague v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 532 (2009), the Supreme Court of Virginia stated that "Assault and battery are common law crimes" and gave the definitions courts apply:

An assault is an "attempt with force and violence, to do some bodily hurt to another, whether from wantonness or malice, by means calculated to produce the end if carried into execution; it is any act accompanied with circumstances denoting an intention, coupled with a present ability, to use actual violence against another person." ... Battery is the actual infliction of corporal hurt on another that is done willfully or in anger.

The Court of Appeals added in Parish v. Commonwealth, 56 Va. App. 324 (2010), that a battery requires a "wil[l]ful or unlawful touching" and that the touching need not injure the body: "It is sufficient if it does injury to the [victim's] mind or feelings." The same opinion notes that "[n]ot every touch is a battery," that a touching is not a battery if it is "justified or excused," and that the required intent "may be imputed if the touching is 'done in a rude, insolent, or angry manner.'"

Is assault a felony in Virginia?

Ordinary assault and battery is a misdemeanor. Virginia does not grade assault in degrees; apart from the hate-crime provision in 18.2-57(B), the felony versions turn on the victim's status, prior convictions, or an intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill. The lowest felony grade, Class 6, applies to:

• assault or assault and battery against a judge, law-enforcement officer, firefighter or other person listed in 18.2-57(C), engaged in public duties, when the person knows or has reason to know the victim's status;
• a hate-motivated assault and battery "resulting in bodily injury" (18.2-57(B));
• a third assault and battery against a family or household member within 20 years (18.2-57.2(B));
• unlawful wounding with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill (18.2-51);
• strangulation or suffocation done knowingly, intentionally, unlawfully and without consent, resulting in wounding or bodily injury (18.2-51.6(A), (B)).

Bodily injury knowingly and willfully inflicted by a prisoner on a correctional employee or other listed person, or by a supervised accused, probationer or parolee on the supervising officer (Class 5, 18.2-55), malicious wounding (Class 3), aggravated malicious wounding (Class 2) and malicious bodily injury to a law-enforcement officer, firefighter, search and rescue or emergency medical services worker are more serious felonies, described in the table below.

Virginia assault offenses and penalties

The ranges come from Virginia's penalty sections. Under Va. Code 18.2-11(a), a Class 1 misdemeanor carries "confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both." Under 18.2-10, a Class 6 felony carries "a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both"; a Class 5 felony, 1 to 10 years in prison, or up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both (18.2-10(e)); a Class 3 felony, 5 to 20 years and a fine of up to $100,000; and a Class 2 felony, "imprisonment for life or for any term not less than 20 years" and a fine of up to $100,000. Sections 18.2-51.1 and 18.2-52 set their own ranges for the malicious offenses. The mandatory minimums noted in the table come from the offense sections themselves.

Bodily injury, wounding and intent

The Code of Virginia has no general definition of "bodily injury," "serious bodily injury" or "deadly weapon" for these offenses. Section 18.2-57(H) defines only a handful of terms (disability, hospital, judge, law-enforcement officer, school security officer and sports official) "as used in this section." "Serious bodily injury" is defined in 18.2-51.4(E), but only "as used in this section."

What separates the grades in Virginia is mostly the person's intent and the victim's status, not a scale of injury:

• Assault and battery (18.2-57) needs no injury at all; a rude, insolent or angry touching can be enough under Parish.
• Unlawful wounding (18.2-51) requires shooting, stabbing, cutting, wounding or causing bodily injury "with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill," done unlawfully but not maliciously.
• Malicious wounding (18.2-51) is the same act done maliciously.
• Aggravated malicious wounding (18.2-51.2(A)) adds a result: the person "is thereby severely injured and is caused to suffer permanent and significant physical impairment."

Assaulting a police officer, judge, teacher or other protected person

Section 18.2-57 raises the penalty when the person accused knows or has reason to know the other person's role. Each subsection has its own list and its own limits, so the exact wording matters.

Officials and first responders (Class 6 felony, six-month mandatory minimum). Under 18.2-57(C), an assault or assault and battery is a Class 6 felony when committed against someone the person knows or has reason to know is:

• a judge or a magistrate;
• a law-enforcement officer as defined in 18.2-57(H);
• a correctional officer as defined in 53.1-1;
• a person directly involved in the care, treatment or supervision of inmates in Department of Corrections custody, or an employee of a local or regional correctional facility directly involved in the care, treatment or supervision of its inmates;
• a person directly involved in the care, treatment or supervision of persons in the custody of or under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice;
• an employee or other individual who provides control, care or treatment of sexually violent predators committed to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services;
• a firefighter as defined in 65.2-102, a volunteer firefighter, or any emergency medical services personnel member employed by or volunteering for an emergency medical services agency or a volunteer fire department or EMS agency,

"engaged in the performance of his public duties anywhere in the Commonwealth." The statute adds that it does not affect the right of a person charged "from asserting and presenting evidence in support of any defenses to the charge that may be available under common law."

The definition of "law-enforcement officer" in 18.2-57(H) is broad. It includes full-time and part-time employees of a state or local police department or sheriff's office responsible for preventing or detecting crime and enforcing the penal, traffic or highway laws, and also, among others, Department of Conservation and Recreation conservation officers, special agents of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, conservation police officers, sworn members of the DMV enforcement division, jail officers in local and regional correctional facilities, "all deputy sheriffs, whether assigned to law-enforcement duties, court services or local jail responsibilities," auxiliary police officers and auxiliary deputy sheriffs, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officers, and fire marshals who have police powers.

"Judge" covers justices and judges of Virginia's courts of record, members of the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, and district court judges, including substitute judges and judges under temporary recall.

School employees (battery only). Battery of "a full-time or part-time employee of any public or private elementary or secondary school" who "is engaged in the performance of his duties as such" is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the sentence must include 15 days in jail, two of which are a mandatory minimum. If the battery is committed "by use of a firearm or other weapon prohibited on school property pursuant to § 18.2-308.1," the mandatory minimum is six months (18.2-57(D)).

Health care providers (battery only). Battery of a health care provider, as defined in 8.01-581.1, "who is engaged in the performance of his duties in a hospital or in an emergency room on the premises of any clinic or other facility rendering emergency medical care" is a Class 1 misdemeanor with the same 15-day sentence, two days mandatory (18.2-57(E)). The subsection is limited to those settings.

Public transit operators. An assault or assault and battery on an operator of a vehicle operated by a public transportation service, engaged in duties, is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the sentence must bar the person from riding that service's vehicles "for a period of not less than six months" (18.2-57(F)).

Sports officials (battery only). Battery of a sports official for an interscholastic or intercollegiate event, or for a public entity or nonprofit organization sponsoring an amateur sports event, while the official is performing duties or is on the premises before or after them, is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The court may bar the person from that organization's events for at least six months (18.2-57(G)). "Sports official" includes "an umpire, referee, judge, scorekeeper, timekeeper, or other person who is a neutral participant in a sports event."

Serious injury to officers and responders. Separately, 18.2-51.1 punishes maliciously causing bodily injury, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, to a law-enforcement officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel or emergency medical services personnel engaged in public duties, knowing or having reason to know the person's status, by 5 to 30 years with a two-year mandatory minimum. The unlawful but not malicious version is a Class 6 felony with a one-year mandatory minimum.

Prisoners, probationers and parolees (Class 5 felony). Under 18.2-55, a person confined in a state, local or regional correctional facility or a secure juvenile facility, or in the custody of one of its employees, who knowingly and willfully inflicts bodily injury on an employee, on another person lawfully admitted to the facility (other than another prisoner), or on a person supervising or working with prisoners commits a Class 5 felony. The same applies to an accused, probationer or parolee under supervision or investigation who knowingly and willfully inflicts bodily injury on a probation, parole, pretrial services or community-based probation officer performing duties, knowing or having reason to know the officer is doing so.

Hate-motivated assault. Assault or assault and battery against a person intentionally selected "because of his race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin" is a Class 1 misdemeanor with at least six months of confinement (18.2-57(A)(2)). If the assault and battery results in bodily injury, it is a Class 6 felony with at least six months of confinement (18.2-57(B)).

School staff and reasonable force

Section 18.2-57(I) states that "simple assault" and "assault and battery" do not include certain acts of a school security officer or a public or private elementary or secondary school employee acting in the course and scope of official capacity, including "incidental, minor or reasonable physical contact or other actions designed to maintain order and control" and reasonable and necessary force to quell a disturbance or remove a student from the scene of a disturbance that threatens physical injury to persons or damage to property, to prevent a student from self-harm, for self-defense or defense of others, or to obtain weapons, dangerous objects or controlled substances in the student's possession. The subsection directs that "due deference shall be given to reasonable judgments" made by the school security officer or school employee at the time of the event.

Domestic assault and battery in Virginia

Virginia has a separate statute for assault and battery against a family or household member. Under 18.2-57.2(A), it is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Under 18.2-57.2(B), it becomes a Class 6 felony when the charging document alleges, and the person has, two prior convictions against a family or household member for assault and battery under 18.2-57.2, malicious or unlawful wounding (18.2-51), aggravated malicious wounding (18.2-51.2), malicious bodily injury by a substance (18.2-52), strangulation (18.2-51.6), or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, "all of which occurred within a period of 20 years, and each of which occurred on a different date." When a warrant is issued under the section, "the magistrate shall issue an emergency protective order as authorized by § 16.1-253.4," except that an emergency protective order is not required if the defendant is a minor (18.2-57.2(C)). Protective orders are covered in Virginia restraining order laws.

"Family or household member" comes from Va. Code 16.1-228. It includes a spouse or former spouse, whether or not living in the same home; parents, stepparents, children, stepchildren, siblings, half-siblings, grandparents and grandchildren regardless of residence; in-laws who live in the same home; anyone who has a child in common with the person; anyone who cohabits or cohabited with the person within the previous 12 months, and children of either then living in the home; a legal custodian of a juvenile; and the person's intimate partner, meaning "an individual who, within the previous 12 months, was in a romantic, dating, or sexual relationship with the person."

Section 18.2-57.3 lets a court, for a person charged with simple assault under 18.2-57(A) against a family or household member or with a violation of 18.2-57.2, "defer the proceedings against such person, without a finding of guilt, and place him on probation." The court may do so only after making the eligibility findings the section lists, which include that the person was an adult at the time of the offense and "has not previously been convicted of any offense under this article or under any statute of the United States or of any state or any ordinance of any local government relating to an assault or assault and battery against a family or household member."

Firearms. Under Va. Code 18.2-308.1:8, a person convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery of a family or household member (for this section, a narrower group: a spouse or former spouse, a person with whom the offender has a child in common, or a current or recent cohabitant, 18.2-308.1:8(B)) (or a substantially similar offense under another state's or federal law), for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2021, may not purchase, possess or transport a firearm for three years after the conviction; the same three-year bar applies to a misdemeanor conviction for assault and battery against an intimate partner for an offense on or after July 1, 2026. Knowingly and intentionally violating the bar is a Class 1 misdemeanor. A separate bar in 18.2-308.2(A1) applies to anyone convicted of a hate-motivated assault under 18.2-57(A)(2) committed on or after July 1, 2026: that person may not purchase, possess or transport a firearm for three years after the conviction, and a knowing and intentional violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Federal law adds its own consequence: under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), a person convicted of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence," as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33), may not ship, transport, possess or receive firearms or ammunition in or affecting commerce. The assault and battery hub covers the federal layer.

Recent changes to Virginia assault law

• Sports officials (2025). Acts 2025, c. 361 (SB 986) added the sports-official battery provision now in 18.2-57(G).
• Judges (2026). Acts 2026, cc. 71 and 72 (HB 124 and SB 144) amended the definition of "judge" in 18.2-57(H) to include district court judges under temporary recall under 16.1-69.22:1.
• Restructured subsection A (2026). Acts 2026, c. 1084 (HB 1015) split 18.2-57(A) into the numbered paragraphs (A)(1) and (A)(2) quoted above and added a firearm bar: under 18.2-308.2(A1), a person convicted of a hate-motivated assault under 18.2-57(A)(2) committed on or after July 1, 2026 may not purchase, possess or transport a firearm for three years after the conviction; a knowing and intentional violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
• Intimate partners (2026). 2026 amendments added a person's intimate partner (a romantic, dating or sexual relationship within the previous 12 months) to the definition of family or household member in 16.1-228, which 18.2-57.2 uses, and extended the three-year firearm bar in 18.2-308.1:8 to assault and battery against an intimate partner committed on or after July 1, 2026.
• Bills that did not become law in 2026. HB 251, which would have created a felony for assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, was continued rather than passed, and HB 1286 and HB 1471, which would have added new protected-victim groups, failed.

No 2025 or 2026 act amended the text of 18.2-51, 18.2-51.1, 18.2-51.2, 18.2-51.6, 18.2-52 or 18.2-57.2.

Civil lawsuits for assault and battery

A criminal prosecution and a civil lawsuit for damages are separate cases. No Virginia limitations section names assault or battery. The general personal-injury rule in Va. Code 8.01-243(A) provides that "every action for personal injuries, whatever the theory of recovery, ... shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues," "[u]nless otherwise provided in this section or by other statute." The same section sets longer periods for injury resulting from sexual abuse: 20 years for abuse during infancy or incapacity (8.01-243(D)), 10 years for other sexual abuse claims accruing on or after July 1, 2020 (D1), and 15 years for sexual abuse of an adult by a person of authority (D2). For someone who was an unemancipated minor or incapacitated when the claim arose, the period runs from when that disability is removed (8.01-229(A)(1)). For other filing deadlines, see the Virginia statute of limitations guide.

Related legal issues

• Self-defense. Whether force was justified is a separate body of law; see Virginia self-defense laws.
• Protective orders. See Virginia restraining order laws.
• Clearing a record. Whether an assault charge or conviction can be removed from a record is covered in Virginia expungement laws.

Related pages

• Assault and battery laws by state
• Virginia self-defense laws
• Virginia restraining order laws
• Virginia expungement laws
• Virginia statute of limitations
• Maryland assault and battery laws
• North Carolina assault and battery laws

This article provides general legal information about Virginia assault and battery law, not legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply depends on the facts. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Virginia.

Last updated: 2026-10-13.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a difference between assault and battery in Virginia?

Virginia charges both under one statute: Va. Code 18.2-57(A)(1) makes "a simple assault or assault and battery" a Class 1 misdemeanor. The terms keep their common-law meanings: an assault is an attempt or offer of bodily hurt with present ability, and a battery is a willful or unlawful touching done in a rude, insolent or angry manner.

Is assault a felony in Virginia?

Ordinary assault and battery is a Class 1 misdemeanor. It is a Class 6 felony when committed against a listed official such as a judge, police officer, firefighter or EMS worker engaged in public duties, whom the person knows or has reason to know holds that role (18.2-57(C)), when a hate-motivated assault and battery causes bodily injury (18.2-57(B)), or on a third family-or-household offense within 20 years (18.2-57.2(B)).

What is the penalty for simple assault in Virginia?

Simple assault or assault and battery is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Va. Code 18.2-57(A)(1), punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, either or both (18.2-11(a)).

What happens if you assault a police officer in Virginia?

Assault or assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer engaged in public duties, when the person knows or has reason to know the officer's status, is a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum of six months (18.2-57(C)). Maliciously causing bodily injury to such an officer engaged in public duties, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill and knowing or having reason to know the officer's status, is a felony carrying 5 to 30 years with a two-year mandatory minimum (18.2-51.1).

Is assaulting a teacher a felony in Virginia?

Battery of a public or private elementary or secondary school employee performing duties, when the person knows or has reason to know the victim's role, is a Class 1 misdemeanor under 18.2-57(D), but the sentence must include 15 days in jail, two of them mandatory, and a six-month mandatory minimum applies if a firearm or other weapon prohibited on school property is used.

Is it a crime to hit a nurse in Virginia?

Battery of a health care provider performing duties in a hospital, or in an emergency room on the premises of a clinic or other facility rendering emergency medical care, when the person knows or has reason to know the victim's role, is a Class 1 misdemeanor whose sentence must include 15 days in jail, two of them mandatory (18.2-57(E)). Hospital health care providers are not among the groups listed in the felony subsection, 18.2-57(C).

What is malicious wounding in Virginia?

Under Va. Code 18.2-51, maliciously shooting, stabbing, cutting, wounding or by any means causing bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill is a Class 3 felony, punishable by 5 to 20 years and a fine of up to $100,000. Without malice, the same act is unlawful wounding, a Class 6 felony.

Is domestic assault a felony in Virginia?

Assault and battery against a family or household member is a Class 1 misdemeanor under 18.2-57.2(A). It becomes a Class 6 felony when the person has two prior qualifying convictions against a family or household member, all within 20 years and each on a different date (18.2-57.2(B)).

Is choking someone a felony in Virginia?

Strangulation, knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully applying pressure to another person's neck without consent so as to impede blood circulation or respiration, resulting in wounding or bodily injury, is a Class 6 felony under Va. Code 18.2-51.6(A). Knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully blocking or obstructing the airway without consent, with the same result, is suffocation, also a Class 6 felony (18.2-51.6(B)).

How long do you have to sue for assault and battery in Virginia?

Virginia has no limitations period that names assault or battery. The general rule in Va. Code 8.01-243(A) requires an action for personal injuries, whatever the theory of recovery, to be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues. Longer periods apply to injuries resulting from sexual abuse (8.01-243(D), (D1), (D2)), and for someone who was an unemancipated minor or incapacitated when the claim arose, the period runs from when that disability is removed (8.01-229(A)).