Statute of Limitations for Domestic Violence in Michigan

In Michigan a prosecutor generally has 6 years from the date of the offense to file a domestic violence charge. There is no limitations period written specifically for domestic violence: domestic assault, aggravated domestic assault and stalking all fall under the catch-all in MCL 767.24(10), which says that "all other indictments may be found and filed within 6 years after the offense is committed."^[1] Time during which the accused did not usually and publicly live in Michigan is not counted.^[2]

This page sets out the period that applies to each offense commonly charged in a domestic case, how the out-of-state rule works, what changed in 2025, and how a limitations period differs from the rules about how long a case can take once it is filed.

What is the time limit for domestic assault?

Six years. The limitations statute lists specific periods for certain crimes and then provides a general rule for everything else. Domestic assault is not among the listed crimes, so the general rule applies.^[5] The same is true of aggravated domestic assault, stalking, aggravated stalking, unlawfully posting a message, child abuse and witness tampering.^[1]

The period does not depend on whether the offense is a misdemeanor or a felony.^[1] The statute speaks of \"indictments,\" a word the Code of Criminal Procedure defines to include a complaint, a warrant and an information.^[6] That surprises people who expect a short deadline for misdemeanors. A first-offense domestic assault carries a maximum of 93 days in jail, yet it has the same 6-year period as a third-offense felony.^[7][8][1]

Is there a special 10-year period for domestic violence?

No. The claim is sometimes made, but the current text of MCL 767.24 contains no limitations period for MCL 750.81 or 750.81a, whether the charge is a first, second or third offense.^[1] The section was last amended by 2024 PA 268, effective April 2, 2025, and that amendment did not add one.^[9][1]

The statute does contain a 10-year period. It applies to kidnapping, extortion, assault with intent to commit murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, armed robbery and first-degree home invasion.^[3] Some of those offenses can arise from a domestic incident, which may be the source of the confusion.

Time limits by offense

Offense	Time to file
Domestic assault, first, second or third offense (MCL 750.81)	6 years after the offense[1]
Aggravated domestic assault (MCL 750.81a)	6 years[1]
Stalking and aggravated stalking (MCL 750.411h, 750.411i)	6 years[1]
Unlawfully posting a message, child abuse, witness tampering	6 years[1]
Assault by strangulation or with intent to do great bodily harm (MCL 750.84); felonious assault (MCL 750.82)	Not named in the 10-year list, so the 6-year general period applies[3][1]
Kidnapping, extortion, assault with intent to commit murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, armed robbery, first-degree home invasion	10 years after the offense; or, if the offense was reported to police within 1 year and the offender was unknown, 10 years after the individual is identified[3]
Second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct (offenses on or after April 2, 2025)	15 years, or by the alleged victim's 42nd birthday, whichever is later; a separate rule applies where DNA from an unidentified individual is obtained[10]
Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct	10 years, or by the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later; a separate rule applies where DNA from an unidentified individual is obtained[10]
Murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct	May be charged at any time[3]

One point the statute's text does not settle: the 10-year list uses the word "kidnapping," and it does not say whether that includes the separate offense of unlawful imprisonment.^[3] The offenses themselves are explained in the guides to domestic assault, strangulation, stalking and home invasion.

What happens to the clock when the accused lives outside Michigan?

It stops. Under MCL 767.24(11), "any period during which the party charged did not usually and publicly reside within this state is not part of the time within which the respective indictments may be found and filed."^[2] This is called tolling: the period is paused, not erased.

Michigan appellate decisions have read that rule according to its plain words:

• In People v Blackmer, the Court of Appeals held that the limitations period is tolled for any period in which a defendant was not customarily and openly living in Michigan, that the defendant's subjective intent to return is irrelevant, and that tolling runs from the time the defendant leaves the state.^[11]
• In People v James, the court said the "party charged" is simply the person charged with a crime to which the statute applies, and rejected the argument that the person had to have been a suspect before the untolled period ran out.^[12]
• James also held that the tolling rule does not violate a nonresident's constitutional right to interstate travel or to equal protection.^[12]

In practical terms, a person who moves to another state a year after an alleged incident and returns ten years later has used one year of the period, not eleven.^[2]

What changed in 2025?

The 2024 amendment to MCL 767.24 took effect April 2, 2025.^[9] It changed the periods for criminal sexual conduct offenses; for example, second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct may now be charged within 15 years or by the alleged victim's 42nd birthday, whichever is later.^[10] The statute states that the 2024 changes apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date and do not apply retroactively to an offense committed before that date.^[9]

The statute also has a general rule about extensions: an extension or tolling of a limitations period applies to any violation for which the period had not yet expired when the extension or tolling took effect.^[13]

None of this altered the 6-year period for domestic assault.^[1]

A time limit to charge is not a time limit on the case

The limitations statute speaks of when an indictment "may be found and filed."^[1] It says nothing about how quickly a case has to be finished once it is filed. Different rules cover that:

Rule	What it governs	What it provides
Limitations period, MCL 767.24	How long after the offense a charge may be filed	6 years for most domestic violence offenses[1]
Speedy trial, MCR 6.004(A)	Delay between arrest and trial	A balancing test with no fixed number of days; prejudice is presumed after 18 months, and a violation means dismissal with prejudice[4]
Pretrial release, MCR 6.004(C)	How long a person may sit in jail awaiting trial	Release on personal recognizance after 28 days in a misdemeanor case or 180 days in a felony case, unless the court makes specific findings[14]
The "180-day rule," MCR 6.004(D)	Untried charges against a person already in state prison	The rule's text calls for the inmate to be brought to trial within 180 days after the Department of Corrections delivers notice to the prosecutor; it sets no deadline for defendants generally[15]

The stages of a filed case are covered in the misdemeanor case timeline and the felony case timeline.

Other clocks people confuse with the statute of limitations

Prior convictions never age out. The repeat-offender provisions of MCL 750.81 contain no look-back period. A conviction of any age can be used to charge a second or third offense.^[16] See Second and third offense domestic violence.

A delay in charging does not mean the case is closed. In Michigan the prosecutor decides whether to prosecute, and a person can be charged by complaint and warrant or summons well after the incident, as long as the limitations period has not run.^[17][1] See Who decides to file charges and Charged without being arrested.

Waiting periods for clearing a record are separate. The time a person has to wait before applying to set aside a conviction is counted from sentencing or the end of the sentence, not from the offense, and has nothing to do with MCL 767.24.^[18] See Expunging a domestic violence conviction.