Assault, domestic violence and stalking in Michigan

Under MCL 750.81(1), assault or assault and battery with no other punishment prescribed is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail or a fine of up to $500, or both. If the victim is a health professional or medical volunteer performing duties, the fine cap is $1,000, unless the defendant is a patient receiving treatment from the victim.

MCL 750.81(1) covers a person who assaults or assaults and batters an individual, if no other punishment is prescribed by law. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500, or both. If the victim is a health professional or medical volunteer and the violation occurs while the victim is performing duties, the fine cap rises to $1,000. That enhanced fine does not apply if the defendant is a patient receiving treatment from the victim. The statute lists assault and assault and battery together, so a charge does not require proof that anyone was hurt. Different relationships and injuries call for different charges. If the alleged victim is a spouse, former spouse, dating partner, co-parent, or household member, subsection (2) applies and is covered in separate answers. If serious or aggravated injury results, MCL 750.81a applies. If a dangerous weapon is involved, MCL 750.82 applies. If the allegation is an assault on a police officer, MCL 750.81d applies. What the prosecutor charged and how the facts fit matter more than the label used by police.

Authority: MCL 750.81; MCL 750.81a; MCL 750.82. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

A first domestic violence conviction under MCL 750.81(2) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500. It covers a spouse or former spouse, a person with whom you have or had a dating relationship, a person with whom you have a child in common, and a current or former household member.

MCL 750.81(2) applies to an individual who assaults or assaults and batters the individual's spouse or former spouse, an individual with whom the individual has or has had a dating relationship, an individual with whom the individual has had a child in common, or a resident or former resident of the individual's household. A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500, or both. Subsection (8)(a) defines dating relationship as frequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional involvement, and it excludes casual relationships and ordinary fraternization in a business or social context. Subsection (3) applies the same first-offense range to an assault on a person who is pregnant when the actor knows of the pregnancy. Repeat offenses escalate, as covered in a separate answer. A domestic violence conviction also has a firearm consequence under MCL 750.224f(5). Courts can impose no-contact conditions while the case is pending, and violating them can bring separate charges. The relationship, the alleged act, and the evidence all need to be reviewed together.

Authority: MCL 750.81; MCL 750.224f. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

After one prior qualifying conviction, domestic violence is still a misdemeanor but the maximum rises to 1 year or a $1,000 fine under MCL 750.81(4). With two or more prior qualifying convictions, it is a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a $5,000 fine under subsection (5). The priors must involve the same kinds of victims, and they can come from other statutes, ordinances, or states.

Under MCL 750.81(4), a person who commits a domestic assault under subsection (2) or (3) and has previously been convicted of assaulting or assaulting and battering a person described in either subsection, under MCL 750.81, a corresponding ordinance, section 81a, 82, 83, 84, or 86, or a substantially corresponding law of another state or its political subdivision, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Under subsection (5), 2 or more such previous convictions make it a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both. The statute sets no time limit on how old a prior can be. The trap is that an old assault against a stranger is not the same as a prior domestic conviction, while a prior aggravated assault or felonious assault against a partner can count. A felony conviction also brings the felon firearm rules in MCL 750.224f, separate from the 8-year misdemeanor rule. A related provision, MCL 750.81a(3), makes a domestic aggravated assault a felony after one prior qualifying conviction. A deferral and dismissal under MCL 769.4a is not a conviction for most purposes, but the statute says it counts as a prior in a later prosecution under sections 81(4) and (5) and 81a(3).

Authority: MCL 750.81; MCL 750.81a; MCL 769.4a; MCL 750.224f. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Possibly. MCL 769.4a lets a court, with the consent of the accused and the prosecutor (in consultation with the victim), defer proceedings after a guilty plea or finding of guilt and place a person with no prior assaultive crime on probation without entering a judgment of guilt. If probation is completed, the case is dismissed. It can be used once, and the dismissed case still counts as a prior for later domestic violence enhancement.

MCL 769.4a(1) applies when a person who has not previously been convicted of an assaultive crime pleads guilty to, or is found guilty of, a violation of section 81 or 81a and the victim is a spouse or former spouse, a co-parent, a dating partner, or a current or former household member. Assaultive crime is defined broadly in subsection (8) (MCL 750.81 to 750.90g and similar laws), so an old unrelated assault conviction can disqualify. The court may defer further proceedings only with the consent of the accused and of the prosecuting attorney in consultation with the victim, and it must first check state police records for prior assaultive crimes or deferrals. The court must enter a judgment of guilt if the person commits an assaultive crime during probation, violates a counseling order, or violates a no-contact order. Under subsection (5), on fulfillment of the terms the court must discharge and dismiss, only one discharge and dismissal is allowed, and the dismissal still counts as a prior in a prosecution under sections 81(4) and (5) and 81a(3). State law calls the dismissal a non-conviction for most purposes, but that label may not control under federal firearm or immigration law, so a person who is not a citizen or who owns firearms needs advice before agreeing.

Authority: MCL 769.4a. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Generally not for at least 8 years under Michigan law, and federal law may bar it for much longer. MCL 750.224f(5) prohibits possessing a firearm or ammunition until 8 years after you pay fines, finish any jail, and complete probation for a misdemeanor involving domestic violence. Separately, 18 USC 922(g)(9) prohibits a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms or ammunition, with no matching time limit.

MCL 750.224f(5) bars a person convicted of a misdemeanor involving domestic violence from possessing, buying, carrying, or transporting a firearm or ammunition in Michigan until 8 years after paying all fines, serving all jail, and completing probation. Violating the bar is a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a $5,000 fine (subsections (6) and (7)). Subsection (9) lifts it for a conviction that was expunged or set aside, or pardoned, unless the order says otherwise. The 8 years do not end the federal prohibition. 18 USC 922(g)(9) bars a person convicted of a misdemeanor that has as an element the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former spouse, a co-parent, a person cohabiting with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or a current or recent former dating partner, among others, and it has no matching time limit. A conviction does not count federally if it was expunged or set aside, or the person was pardoned or had civil rights restored, unless that order bars firearms, or if the person had no lawyer or jury and made no knowing waiver (18 USC 921(a)(33)(B)). For a dating-partner conviction only, a person with no more than one such conviction may regain the right 5 years after the later of the judgment or the end of any custodial or supervisory sentence, if there are no later disqualifying convictions (921(a)(33)(C)). Get advice on both sets of rules before buying or keeping a firearm.

Authority: MCL 750.224f; 18 USC 922; 18 USC 921. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Under MCL 750.81a, aggravated assault is an assault without a weapon that inflicts serious or aggravated injury, without intent to murder or to do great bodily harm. It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a fine of up to $1,000. The same range applies when the victim is a domestic partner, and a repeat domestic offense can be a felony.

MCL 750.81a(1) covers a person who assaults an individual without a weapon and inflicts serious or aggravated injury upon that individual without intending to commit murder or to inflict great bodily harm less than murder. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Subsection (2) applies the same range when the victim is a spouse or former spouse, a dating partner, a person with whom the actor has a child in common, or a current or former household member. Under subsection (3), a person who commits a domestic assault and battery under this statute and has one or more previous qualifying convictions is guilty of a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both. A conviction under this statute is a domestic violence misdemeanor for firearm purposes when subsection (2) applies. The statute does not define serious or aggravated injury. The jury instruction quoted in People v Brown, 97 Mich App 606, 611 (1980), described it as substantial bodily injury, or injury that needed immediate medical treatment or caused disfigurement, impairment of health, or impairment of a bodily part, and Brown noted that the need for immediate treatment is only one factor, so the medical records often decide the charge.

Authority: MCL 750.81a; MCL 750.224f; People v Brown, 97 Mich App 606 (1980). Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Felonious assault under MCL 750.82(1) is assaulting another person with a gun, revolver, pistol, knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles, or other dangerous weapon without intending to commit murder or great bodily harm. It is a felony punishable by up to 4 years or a fine of up to $2,000, or both. In a weapon free school zone, the fine cap rises to $6,000.

MCL 750.82(1) lists the weapons: a gun, revolver, pistol, knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles, or other dangerous weapon. The element that separates it from the higher assault offenses is that the person does not intend to commit murder or to inflict great bodily harm less than murder. The penalty is up to 4 years or a fine of up to $2,000, or both. If the victim is a health professional or medical volunteer performing duties, the fine cap is $4,000, unless the defendant is a patient receiving treatment from the victim. Under subsection (2), a violation in a weapon free school zone is a felony punishable by one or more of up to 4 years, up to 150 hours of community service, and a fine of up to $6,000. Subsection (4)(g) defines weapon free school zone as school property and a vehicle used by a school to transport students. If a firearm was involved in the alleged felonious assault, a separate felony firearm charge under MCL 750.227b can add a mandatory consecutive term, discussed in another answer.

Authority: MCL 750.82; MCL 750.227b. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Under MCL 750.84(1), assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, or assault by strangulation or suffocation, is a felony punishable by up to 10 years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both. Strangulation means intentionally impeding normal breathing or blood circulation by pressure on the throat or neck, or by blocking the nose or mouth. Assault with intent to murder under MCL 750.83 carries life or any number of years.

MCL 750.84(1) has two separate routes: assaulting another person with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, and assaulting another person by strangulation or suffocation. The penalty is the same, up to 10 years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both. Subsection (2) defines strangulation or suffocation as intentionally impeding normal breathing or circulation of the blood by applying pressure on the throat or neck or by blocking the nose or mouth of another person. Subsection (3) states that the section does not prohibit charging, convicting, or punishing a person for any other violation arising from the same conduct. MCL 750.83 covers assault with intent to commit murder and is punishable by life or any number of years. The intent element in the great bodily harm route is a frequent point of dispute, because the statute requires intent to do great bodily harm and not just an assault that happens to injure someone. Medical evidence, injuries, the alleged weapon or manner, and the statements of the people involved are the main sources of proof.

Authority: MCL 750.84; MCL 750.83. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Stalking under MCL 750.411h is a willful course of conduct of repeated or continuing harassment that would make a reasonable person feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually makes the victim feel that way. A course of conduct means 2 or more separate noncontinuous acts. It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or $1,000, or a felony if the victim is under 18 and the actor is 5 or more years older.

MCL 750.411h(1) defines stalking as a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested and that actually causes the victim to feel that way. Course of conduct means a pattern composed of a series of 2 or more separate noncontinuous acts evidencing a continuity of purpose. Harassment means conduct directed toward a victim that includes, but is not limited to, repeated or continuing unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable individual to suffer emotional distress and that actually causes the victim to suffer emotional distress, and it does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose. Under subsection (2), the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a fine of up to $1,000, or a felony punishable by up to 5 years or a fine of up to $10,000 if the victim was under 18 at any time during the course of conduct and the individual is 5 or more years older. Probation can be up to 5 years. Under subsection (4), continuing unconsented contact after the victim asked the person to stop creates a rebuttable presumption about the victim's reaction, so a clear request to stop matters.

Authority: MCL 750.411h. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

Under MCL 750.411i, stalking becomes a felony (up to 5 years or $10,000) if it involves any of these: an action violating a restraining order the person had actual notice of, or an action violating an injunction or preliminary injunction; a violation of a condition of probation, parole, pretrial release, or release on bond pending appeal; a credible threat; or a prior stalking conviction. If the victim is under 18 and the actor is 5 or more years older, the maximum is 10 years.

Aggravated stalking requires stalking plus at least one of four circumstances in MCL 750.411i(2). The first is that at least one of the actions violated a restraining order and the individual received actual notice of it, or violated an injunction or preliminary injunction. Actual notice is written only into the restraining order clause. The second is a violation of a condition of probation, parole, pretrial release, or release on bond pending appeal. The third is that the course of conduct includes one or more credible threats against the victim, a family member, or a person in the household. A credible threat is a threat to kill or inflict physical injury, made in any manner or context, that causes the person receiving it to reasonably fear for their safety or another's. The fourth is a prior conviction for stalking or aggravated stalking. Under subsection (3), the penalty is up to 5 years or a fine of up to $10,000, or up to 10 years or $15,000 if the victim was under 18 and the actor is 5 or more years older. Under subsection (4), probation can be for any term of years but not less than 5. Whether the person actually received the restraining order is a frequent issue.

Authority: MCL 750.411i. Reviewed Oct. 2026.

A domestic violence conviction is a misdemeanor, but it carries an 8-year state firearm bar (MCL 750.224f(5)), can trigger a federal firearm ban, and brings a higher penalty for any later offense. A first charge is punishable by up to 93 days in jail or a $500 fine, or both (MCL 750.81(2)). Whether to hire a lawyer is your decision. A deferral under MCL 769.4a needs the prosecutor's consent and can be used only once.

A first-offense domestic violence charge under MCL 750.81(2) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500, or both. The longer-term consequences are what make the case more serious than the sentence alone suggests. A conviction bars firearm and ammunition possession until 8 years after fines, jail, and probation are complete, under MCL 750.224f(5), and it can also trigger a federal firearm ban (18 USC 922(g)(9)). A later domestic violence conviction is punished at a higher level: up to 1 year after one prior conviction and a felony after two or more under MCL 750.81(4) and (5). A deferral under MCL 769.4a may be available for a person with no prior assaultive crime, but it requires the consent of the prosecutor, can be used once, and counts as a prior for later enhancement. If the person commits an assaultive crime or violates a counseling or no-contact order during probation, the court must enter an adjudication of guilt (MCL 769.4a(4)). A lawyer can review the statements, any 911 recording, photographs, and medical records, and explain what a no-contact condition means while the case is pending. I explain my fee arrangement at the consultation, before you decide whether to hire me.

Authority: MCL 750.81; MCL 750.224f; MCL 769.4a; 18 USC 922. Reviewed Oct. 2026.