Felony Classes and Punishments: A State-by-State Guide.

There is no single national felony scale. Every state groups felony offenses by severity in its own way, and the classes of felonies in one state do not translate cleanly into another. Some states use letters, some use numbers, some use degrees, and a few assign a sentence to each offense individually with no classification system at all. This page walks the felony classes that exist, what falls into each, and what the punishments look like.

Infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies

There are three types of crime: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. Infractions are minor and usually punished by a fine or a warning. Misdemeanors and felonies both carry real consequences, and the differences between them are structural:

• A misdemeanor carries a potential sentence to county jail; a felony leads to sentencing in state prison.
• Misdemeanor sentences in most states do not exceed one year. Felonies carry longer terms, up to life imprisonment - and in death-penalty states, certain felonies carry capital exposure.
• The collateral consequences diverge sharply. A felony conviction can cost professional licenses, jury eligibility, voting rights while incarcerated or on supervision, and firearm rights.

Felony classes, felony levels, and felony degrees

Most states use subcategories to signal how serious a felony is, and each subcategory carries its own sentence or sentencing range. Classes of felony, levels of felonies, and felony degrees are three labels for the same underlying idea. The three naming conventions you will encounter:

• Letter classes. Class A through Class E, or further. Indiana, New York, and many others use letters.
• Numeric felony levels. Virginia uses levels 1 through 6; Arizona and Colorado also number theirs, so a Class 2 felony in Arizona sits near the top of that scale. These are the same idea as letters with different labels.
• Degrees of a felony. Ohio runs first through fifth degree; Florida and Pennsylvania use degrees too. When people ask about the degrees of a felony, this is the system they mean.

A caution that matters more than any table: because every state writes its own penal code, a Class A offense in one state may be a Class B or a second-degree offense in another. The letter tells you the tier within that state's scheme, and nothing about any other state.

Felony examples by class

Here is the felony list by class, with examples of felonies that commonly fall into each tier. These felony examples are typical placements, not universal ones - and the different types of felonies below shift between classes from state to state.

• Class A felony - the most serious tier. Class A felonies include treason, terrorism, and aggravated murder. Punishment ranges from a lengthy determinate term up to life imprisonment, depending on the offense charged and any enhancements.
• Class B felony - second most serious. Examples: manslaughter, serious assault offenses, and higher-weight narcotics possession or distribution. Sentences commonly top out around 25 years.
• Class C felony - examples include forgery, bribery, money laundering, and kidnapping in some states. Class C crimes are often punishable by up to about ten years. A Class C felony conviction stays on the record permanently.
• Class D felony - typically non-violent offenses: motor vehicle theft, repeat drunk driving, stalking, and many fraud counts. Punishable by prison time, fines, and supervision.
• Class E felony - the least severe tier in states that go that far down the alphabet. Frequently resolved with probation rather than prison.

What is a Class I felony?

A Class I felony is North Carolina's lowest felony tier - and the roman numeral matters, because North Carolina runs Class A1 through Class I. A Class I felony there covers offenses such as certain drug possession counts and lower-level financial crimes, and it usually carries a presumptive sentence of community or intermediate punishment rather than active prison time for a first offender. Note that a Class I felony (roman numeral) and a Class 1 felony (numeral one, used in states like Arizona and Virginia) are opposite ends of the scale: Class 1 is the most serious tier in those states.

States with no felony classes

Some states skip classification entirely and attach a sentence to each offense in the statute that defines it. Massachusetts works this way - the punishment appears in the felony's own statute rather than in a general grid.

The hybrid approach

Other states classify most felonies and leave the rest unclassified. Colorado, for example, has felony levels 1 through 6 plus unclassified offenses; when a felony is unclassified, the sentence is found in the statute defining it.

Grid systems: Kansas and the federal courts

Kansas uses a sentencing grid rather than simple classes. One axis is the severity level of the offense, the other is the defendant's criminal history, and the cell where they intersect gives the sentencing range. A low-severity offense by a first-time offender lands in a very different cell than a serious offense by a repeat offender.

The federal system works on the same principle at larger scale. The United States Sentencing Guidelines run 43 offense levels against six criminal history categories, and the intersection produces an advisory range that judges use as a starting point. Federal offenses are not sorted into Class A through E the way state felonies are - the level, not a letter, drives the number.

Why the class matters to a case

The felony class sets the outer boundaries, but it rarely decides the outcome. What moves a case is which class the charge sits in after negotiation - a Class C reduced to a Class D, or a felony reduced to a misdemeanor, changes the sentence, the record, and every collateral consequence attached to it. That reduction is the work. The consultation is free.