Skip to content
ImNotAnAttorney logo

Minnesota Domestic Violence Law

Minnesota Domestic Violence Penalties, Minn. Stat. § 609.2242

What you are facing under Minn. Stat. § 609.2242, how the penalties scale, and the questions an attorney needs to answer — under Minnesota (MN) domestic-violence law.

Minnesota (MN) — Domestic Assault

Offense class: Misdemeanor (1st offense); Gross Misdemeanor (prior domestic conviction within 10 years); Felony (two or more prior domestic convictions within 10 years)

Incarceration

– 90 days (misdemeanor); 1 year (gross misdemeanor); 5 years (felony)

Maximum Fine

$1,000 (misdemeanor); $3,000 (gross misdemeanor); $10,000 (felony)

Offense Class

Misdemeanor (1st offense); Gross Misdemeanor (prior domestic conviction within 10 years); Felony (two or more prior domestic convictions within 10 years)

What this costs

Visible before you click.

$127DUI Defense Playbook, delivered in Instant download.

Some legal-services sites publish their price openly. Some don't. Here's where each one lands today.

Every price on this site is the price. No “starting at.” No per-minute meter. No bait.

Mandatory minimum: Minimum fine of 30% of maximum fine authorized

What this means

Plain language

A sentence the judge cannot go below, no matter the facts. A charge reduction is the usual way out.

⚠

Federal firearms ban (

Lautenberg Amendment

Plain language

A federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)) that bans gun possession after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction — separate from state penalties.

)

A misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction in Minnesota triggers a federal firearms-possession ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). This applies on top of any state sentence, no matter how the Minnesota case ends.

Minnesota Domestic Violence Penalty Range

FactorDetail
StatuteMinn. Stat. § 609.2242
OffenseDomestic Assault
ClassMisdemeanor (1st offense); Gross Misdemeanor (prior domestic conviction within 10 years); Felony (two or more prior domestic convictions within 10 years)
Incarceration – 90 days (misdemeanor); 1 year (gross misdemeanor); 5 years (felony)
Maximum fine$1,000 (misdemeanor); $3,000 (gross misdemeanor); $10,000 (felony)
Mandatory minimumMinimum fine of 30% of maximum fine authorized

Penalty Enhancements

Additional factors that can increase the sentence under Minnesota law.

  • Prior qualified domestic violence-related offense within 10 years (gross misdemeanor)
  • Two or more prior qualified domestic violence offenses within 10 years (felony)
  • Strangulation (felony under § 609.2247)

Minnesota note: Qualified domestic violence-related offenses include violations from other states. Court must impose fine of not less than 30% of maximum. Domestic abuse no contact order (DANCO) routinely issued.

What you're afraid of

Minnesota domestic violence defendants tell us they're afraid of four things. Here's how we address each.

Every citation in your report links back to a real CourtListener URL or a real state statute page. Your attorney can verify everything in under five minutes. We sit alongside your attorney — we don't replace them.

  • What if I take the wrong plea — or the wrong sentence?

    Most defendants take the first plea offered. We pull the comparable cases in your district and your judge's prior rulings, so you can see what the floor actually is before deciding.

    See the Playbook

  • What if my attorney isn't actually listening — or preparing?

    Most defendants leave their attorney's office with more questions than they came in with. Not because attorneys are bad — the meeting is short and you didn't know what to ask. We hand you the questions, scored against your charge.

    Take the free Defense Score

  • I don't even know what I don't know.

    The hardest part of a criminal case is not knowing which questions matter. The Intelligence Brief pulls the most-cited opinions in your district + your charge, mapped to your judge's prior rulings, and surfaces the five questions that move the needle in front of this prosecutor.

    See what an Intelligence Brief covers

  • What if I bring my attorney a number they dismiss?

    If you bring your attorney a number they can't trace to a source, the conversation is over. Every number in our report is a hyperlink. Your attorney clicks, verifies, and the conversation continues.

    View a sample report

We're not here to replace your attorney. We're here to make sure you walk into their office knowing the right questions to ask.

What you're paying for is the time

Skip the 6-10 hours of reading. We already did it.

Defendants are already doing this work themselves — on r/legaladvice / r/Ask_Lawyers / Avvo Q&A, in Google searches, in the long thread of “what happens if I plead X” questions every public legal-help surface carries. The data is public. The reading is the work.

  • r/legaladvice + r/Ask_Lawyers (source): thousands of 'what happens if I plead X' threads, none of them indexed to your specific charge or your state's statute.

  • Avvo Q&A (source): per-charge plain-language threads, attorney answers gated behind per-minute meters.

  • Your state's official statute site: the actual statute text, the actual sentencing range, the actual enhancement triggers.

We hand you the synthesis — cited, hyperlinked, organized for your charge — for $127.

Get the DUI Defense Playbook — $127

Free — takes 2 minutes

Is your Minnesota domestic violence case defense on track?

The free Defense Score checks 10 critical defense behaviors specific to domestic violence cases. Takes 2 minutes. Instant results.

Check your defense score

DUI Defense Playbook

$127

26 questions that change how the next attorney meeting goes, a case stage roadmap, red flag checklist, and a case progress scorecard. Instant PDF download, relevant to Minnesota defendants.

Delivery: Instant download

Get the playbook

Other Minnesota defense topics

Facing a different charge in Minnesota? Penalty ranges, enhancements, and defense questions for related crimes:

DUI in MinnesotaDrug Possession in MinnesotaAssault in Minnesota

This page provides legal information — not legal advice — about Minnesota domestic violence law as of the date of publication. Laws change. Verify current statutes with a licensed attorney in Minnesota.