Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

609.224 Assault in the fifth degree.

Subdivision 1. Misdemeanor. Whoever does any of the following commits an assault and is guilty of a misdemeanor:

(1) commits an act with intent to cause fear in another of immediate bodily harm or death; or

(2) intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily harm upon another.

Subd. 2. Gross misdemeanor. (a) Whoever violates the provisions of subdivision 1 against the same victim during the time period between a previous conviction or adjudication of delinquency under this section, sections 609.221 to 609.2231, 609.2242, 609.342 to 609.345, 609.377, or 609.713, or any similar law of another state, and the end of the five years following discharge from sentence or disposition for that conviction or adjudication, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

(b) Whoever violates the provisions of subdivision 1 within two years of a previous conviction or adjudication of delinquency under this section or sections 609.221 to 609.2231, 609.2242, 609.377, or 609.713, or any similar law of another state, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

(c) A caregiver, as defined in section 609.232, who is an individual and who violates the provisions of subdivision 1 against a vulnerable adult, as defined in section 609.232, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

Subd. 3. Firearms. (a) When a person is convicted of a violation of this section or section 609.221, 609.222, or 609.223, the court shall determine and make written findings on the record as to whether:

(1) the defendant owns or possesses a firearm; and

(2) the firearm was used in any way during the commission of the assault.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in section 609.2242, subdivision 3, paragraph (c), a person is not entitled to possess a pistol if the person has been convicted after August 1, 1992, of assault in the fifth degree if the offense was committed within three years of a previous conviction under sections 609.221 to 609.224, unless three years have elapsed from the date of conviction and, during that time, the person has not been convicted of any other violation of section 609.224. Property rights may not be abated but access may be restricted by the courts. A person who possesses a pistol in violation of this paragraph is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

Subd. 4. Felony. (a) Whoever violates the provisions of subdivision 1 against the same victim during the time period between the first of any combination of two or more previous convictions or adjudications of delinquency under this section or sections 609.221 to 609.2231, 609.2242, 609.342 to 609.345, 609.377, or 609.713, or any similar law of another state, and the end of the five years following discharge from sentence or disposition for that conviction or adjudication is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

(b) Whoever violates the provisions of subdivision 1 within three years of the first of any combination of two or more previous convictions or adjudications of delinquency under this section or sections 609.221 to 609.2231, 609.2242, 609.377, or 609.713, or any similar law of another state, is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

HIST: 1979 c 258 s 7; 1983 c 169 s 2; 1985 c 159 s 1; 1987 c 329 s 7; 1992 c 537 s 1,2; 1992 c 571 art 6 s 13; 1993 c 326 art 2 s 11,12; 1Sp1993 c 5 s 2,3; 1994 c 636 art 3 s 10; 1995 c 229 art 2 s 1; 1995 c 259 art 3 s 13,14; 1996 c 408 art 3 s 21,22; 2000 c 437 s 6,7

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes