Domestic Violence Charges in Georgia: What the Family Violence Label Changes
In Georgia, “domestic violence” is not a separate crime. It is a label the law attaches to an underlying charge, such as battery or assault, when the people involved have a family or household relationship. That label changes almost everything about how the case is handled: the bond conditions, the no-contact orders, the penalties for a repeat charge, and the collateral consequences that follow a conviction.
This page is the starting point for our Georgia family violence material. Below you will find what relationships bring a case under the family violence law, how a repeat battery charge becomes a felony, how protective orders run alongside the criminal case, and an index of our related guides.
Kohn & Yager, LLC defends family violence cases across metro Atlanta and north Georgia. These cases often start with a 911 call and an arrest the same night, before anyone has sorted out what actually happened. Every case is different, and nothing on this page predicts what will happen in yours.
What Georgia Law Calls Family Violence
Georgia’s family violence statute draws the circle around the relationship, not the act. It covers any felony, plus battery, simple battery, simple assault, assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, and criminal trespass, when committed between past or present spouses, parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or people who live or formerly lived in the same household. The statute expressly excludes reasonable parental discipline of a child.
The practical effect: a shove or a broken phone that would otherwise be a low-level charge is treated as a family violence case the moment the relationship fits the list, with the arrest policies, bond conditions, and prosecution units that come with it.
Family Violence Battery and Repeat Charges
Battery between household members has its own track. Under the family violence battery provision, a first conviction is a misdemeanor, but a second battery conviction against a person in one of the covered relationships can be charged as a felony. That escalation is what makes an early plea to “just get it over with” so dangerous in these cases: the first conviction loads the felony exposure for anything that happens later.
Protective Orders Run Alongside the Criminal Case
Family violence cases usually involve two courts at once. In addition to the criminal charge, the other party can petition under Georgia’s protective order statute, and a judge can issue a temporary order the same day, before you have been heard, with a full hearing set within thirty days. A protective order can control where you live, whether you see your children, and can affect firearm rights while it stands. Violating one is a separate offense, even if the person protected by the order initiated the contact. The protective order hearing also puts sworn testimony on record that the criminal case will later have to live with, which is why the two cases need to be defended as one.
Georgia Family Violence Guides
Your Defense
- Hiring a domestic violence lawyer in the Atlanta metro
- Georgia’s protective order process, step by step
- Do you need a criminal lawyer for your charge?
- How to clear up a Georgia warrant without going to jail
The Underlying Charges
- Georgia’s simple battery law and what prosecutors must prove
- Felony versus misdemeanor battery in Georgia
- Aggravated battery: Georgia’s felony battery tier
- Aggravated assault in Georgia: penalties and defenses
Related Practice Areas
Talk to a Georgia Family Violence Lawyer
If you have been arrested on a family violence charge, or served with a protective order petition, the useful first step is a conversation about the specific facts: what the charge is, what the bond conditions say, and whether a protective order hearing is already on the calendar. Consultations are free.
Call 404-567-5515 or use our contact page to reach Kohn & Yager, LLC.