The Statute of Limitations is the maximum allotted time frame during which the State can bring charges against you for an alleged offense.  Once the Statute of Limitations has run, the State can still bring charges against you for the alleged offense.  However, you now have a legal defense to the action that prevents a trial in the matter.  The defense is affirmative, by which I mean you must assert it, or it cannot be used for your benefit.  When does the statute begin to run?  A day after the act.

What Starts a Case

What is bringing the charges?  It begins when the State files a complaint/information or returns an indictment, and a warrant is issued.  The warrant must be served in a reasonable time.  If the warrant is not served in a reasonable time, there is a chance for dismissal if the services of the warrant occurred after the running of the Statutes of Limitations. 

Why Have a Statute of Limitations

What is the point of a Statute of Limitations?  The statute keeps old cases from causing a backlog in the court and to protect defendants from unfair legal actions brought by the State.  Who wants to be convicted with evidence that has deteriorated over time?  After the passage of a certain amount of time, relevant information, evidence, and witness may no longer exist.  This may amount to an unjust verdict for you if you don’t have all the potential evidence that could be useful to you. 

Imagine the eyewitness that was never interviewed, that never had his/her statement written down or recorded near the time of the event.  You wouldn’t want to rely on that person’s memory years after the incident.  People have enough to remember and think about.  Memories fade over time and are altered by other memories, or worse yet, the memories of others.  Who would want to rely on that? 

The State shouldn’t allow and you shouldn’t be put in a place where this happens to your witnesses.  It would be unreasonable to expect someone to be able to recall, in detail, events that happened years and years ago, especially when those details are the difference between your freedom or imprisonment. 

There is also a sense that what is in the past should remain there.  It just feels unfair for someone to bring up an event that happened years ago, that no one is talking about any longer, and no one otherwise seems to care about. 

How Long Does the State Have to Bring a Case

How much time does the State have to bring charges? The waiting period is usually a function of the severity and complexity of the act.  Very severe or complex actions have longer waiting periods, whereas minor or simple acts have shorter waiting periods. 

Murder, rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, terrorism and illegal use of weapons of mass destruction have infinite waiting periods.  If you are alleged to have committed one of those crimes, then the statute of limitations defense will not be available.  Those crimes can be prosecuted at any time during your life. 

If the victim is the Kansas public employee’s retirement system, the State has 10 years to bring the charge.  These can be difficult to notice immediately, and when discovered, you know the State wants its money. 

Certain “sexually violent” offenses can be brought within 10 years of the offense or within one year of DNA identifying a suspect (whichever is later).  So, in some respect, this could be extended well beyond the 10 years if the State does a DNA test much later.  This also applies when the accuser is 18 or older.  When the accuser is 18 or younger, the limitations period is within 10 years after the accuser has turned 18 or one year from the date a DNA test identifies the suspect (again, whichever is later). 

All other crimes, whether a felony, a misdemeanor, or a traffic offense must be brought within 5 years if you are an adult  and 2 years if you are a juvenile (with the exception of lewd and lascivious behavior, unlawful voluntary sexual relations, and incest when the victim is 15 or less, then it is 5 years). 

Are There Exceptions to the Statute

Is the defense always available?  There are certain activities that toll or stop the running of the Statute of Limitations. 

When you run and hide out of the jurisdiction the statute may toll.

When you conceal the crime on purpose, the statute may toll. 

When you conceal yourself within the state in manner where the warrant can’t be served on you, the statute may toll. 

When you have another pending case dealing with the same sort of conduct, the statute may toll.

When the victim is inhibited from reporting the crime because of age or mental infirmity, the statute may toll. 

In the event that it is an offense involving elections, the circumstances arising from a governmental agency being restrained from investigating alleged misconduct or state government ethical conduct may toll the statute.