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 within ten years of a previous qualified domestic violence-related offense
conviction or adjudication of delinquency 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 three years of a previous
qualified domestic violence-related offense conviction or adjudication of delinquency 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 within ten years of the first of any combination of two or more previous qualified domestic
violence-related offense convictions or adjudications of delinquency 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 qualified domestic violence-related offense convictions or
adjudications of delinquency 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.
History: 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; 1Sp2001 c 8
art 10 s 8,9; 2006 c 260 art 1 s 16,17

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes