The felony statute of limitations sets how long prosecutors have to file charges, and it runs anywhere from three years to no limit at all depending on the offense and whether the case is federal or state. Federal law uses a five-year default for most non-capital felonies. States set their own deadlines, and they vary widely — a lower-level felony might carry a three-year window in one state and a six- or seven-year window in another. Murder has no deadline anywhere, and several other serious offenses have either extended clocks or none at all.
The Federal Five-Year Default
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3282, prosecutors must return an indictment or file charges within five years of the offense for any federal felony that isn’t covered by a longer or unlimited deadline.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital That five-year window covers standard wire fraud, drug distribution, tax evasion, firearms offenses, and false statements to federal agents, along with most other federal crimes Congress hasn’t singled out.
The clock starts on the date the offense was committed, not the date investigators learn about it. Federal courts have repeatedly held that there is no general discovery rule in criminal cases: the government doesn’t get extra time because the crime stayed hidden. Specific exceptions exist for certain categories, but they are individually enacted, not a general principle.
How State Felony Deadlines Compare
Every state writes its own criminal limitations periods, and the variation is significant. A 50-state survey shows general felony deadlines clustering around a few common windows:2Justia. Criminal Statutes of Limitations: 50-State Survey
- Three years is the baseline for general felonies in a large group of states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and Oregon.
- Five or six years is the default in states like Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
- Arizona and South Dakota use a seven-year window for general felonies, and specific serious offenses in many states carry deadlines of 10, 15, 20, or even 25 years.
Inside any single state, the deadline scales with the severity of the charge. A lower-level felony property crime may fall under the three-year default, while aggravated sexual assault in that same state can carry a 15- or 20-year window. The limitations period you actually face depends on the exact charge and the state where it’s brought.
Extended Federal Deadline for Financial Crimes
Federal financial crimes get a longer clock. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3293, prosecutors have 10 years to bring charges for offenses that target financial institutions.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3293 – Financial Institution Offenses Covered crimes include bank fraud, embezzlement by a bank officer, fraudulent bank entries and reports, and loan application fraud. Mail fraud and wire fraud also fall into the 10-year window when the scheme affects a financial institution, which extends the government’s reach substantially in large white-collar cases.
Felonies With No Statute of Limitations
Some crimes can be charged at any time, no matter how many years have passed.
Murder and Other Capital Offenses
At the federal level, any offense punishable by death can be charged at any time.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3281 – Capital Offenses Every state follows the same principle for murder. Cold case units exist because this door never closes.
Child Sexual and Physical Abuse
Federal law eliminates the statute of limitations for sexual or physical abuse and kidnapping of children under 18. Prosecution can be brought during the life of the victim or within 10 years of the offense, whichever period is longer.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3283 – Offenses Against Children Most states have gone further, removing criminal statutes of limitations entirely for felony child sexual abuse.
Terrorism Resulting in Death or Serious Injury
Federal terrorism offenses follow a two-tier structure. Most non-capital terrorism offenses carry an eight-year limitations period rather than the standard five. If the terrorist act resulted in death or created a foreseeable risk of death or serious bodily injury, there is no deadline at all.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3286 – Extension of Statute of Limitation for Certain Terrorism Offenses
What Pauses the Clock
The countdown can be frozen through a process called tolling. Time that passes while a tolling condition applies doesn’t count toward the deadline. When the condition ends, the clock picks up where it left off.
Fleeing From Justice
Federal law states plainly that “no statute of limitations shall extend to any person fleeing from justice.”7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3290 – Fugitives From Justice If a suspect flees the country, moves to another state, or hides under a false identity, the clock stops. States have similar provisions.8United States Department of Justice. Criminal Resource Manual 657 – Tolling of Statute of Limitations
Waiting on Foreign Evidence
When the government formally requests evidence from another country, a federal court can suspend the statute of limitations while the foreign authority responds. The suspension can last up to three years. If the foreign government completes its response before the original limitations period would have expired, the extension is capped at six months beyond that original deadline.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3292 – Suspension of Limitations to Permit United States to Obtain Foreign Evidence This comes up regularly in international money laundering and fraud cases.
DNA-Based John Doe Indictments
In at least 10 states and the District of Columbia, prosecutors can file a John Doe indictment that identifies a suspect only by DNA profile when the name is unknown. Filing the indictment satisfies the statute of limitations even though no one has been arrested. If a DNA match is made later, sometimes years or decades on, the prosecution can move forward because the charging deadline was met when the John Doe indictment was filed.
When the Clock Starts
Pinpointing the start date is often the most contested issue in a case, because the answer decides whether a prosecution goes forward at all.
The Date of the Offense
For most felonies, the clock starts the day the crime is committed. A robbery, an assault, a drug sale — the date is typically fixed in the initial police report, and the applicable window begins running from that moment.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital
Conspiracies and Other Continuing Offenses
Crimes that play out over time follow a different rule. For conspiracy, the clock starts on the date of the last overt act committed in furtherance of the agreement.10United States Department of Justice. Criminal Resource Manual 652 – Statute of Limitations for Conspiracy A years-long conspiracy can still be prosecuted if any co-conspirator took a concrete step to advance the scheme inside the window. The same logic applies to other continuing offenses such as ongoing fraud, racketeering, and long-running drug trafficking operations.
The Limited Role of the Discovery Rule
In civil cases, the discovery rule commonly delays the clock until the injured party knew or should have known about the harm. Criminal cases are different. Federal courts have generally rejected a broad discovery rule for criminal prosecutions, and § 3282 starts running when the offense is committed even if the crime was designed to stay hidden.
Narrow exceptions exist. Some state fraud statutes provide that the limitations period begins when the crime is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. A handful of federal statutes build in delayed accrual for specific offenses. But these are individually enacted carve-outs, not a general escape hatch, and the argument that the government “didn’t know yet” rarely rescues a late prosecution in criminal court.
What Happens When the Deadline Passes
An expired statute of limitations doesn’t dissolve a case on its own. It creates a defense that must be raised, usually through a motion to dismiss filed before or during trial. If the defense shows that the indictment or information was filed after the applicable deadline and no tolling provision applies, the court will dismiss the charges. The strength of the evidence becomes irrelevant at that point; even a case with overwhelming proof of guilt is dismissed when the government waited too long.
A defendant who fails to raise the issue in a timely way risks waiving the defense entirely, which is why competent defense counsel matters so much at the charging stage. The reverse is also worth understanding: as long as the deadline has not passed, a lengthy investigation gives the defendant no right to force the government’s hand. Prosecutors are free to take their time building a case, right up until the clock runs out.