Civil Lawsuits for Sexual Assault in Michigan

A person harmed by criminal sexual conduct in Michigan can bring a civil lawsuit for money damages, and the general deadline is 10 years.^[1] A person who was a minor at the time has until the later of age 28 or three years after discovering the injury and its link to the conduct.^[2] No criminal charge or conviction is needed for the civil claim.^[1]

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The national sexual assault hotline run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).^[5] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 1-855-864-2374, is confidential, and has advocates available 24/7.^[6]

This page explains those deadlines as currently enacted, the bills that would change them and their status, who can be sued, the standard of proof, and how a criminal case affects a civil one. Throughout, "criminal sexual conduct" means conduct prohibited under MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e or 750.520g.^[7]

Why a civil case is separate from a criminal case

The Sexual Assault Benchbook quotes the Michigan Supreme Court on the difference: "the crime is an offense against the public pursued by the sovereign, while the tort is a private injury which is pursued by the injured party."^[8] The Penal Code itself preserves civil remedies. Its failure to specify a liability to damages for an act it makes punishable "does not affect any right to recover or enforce the same."^[9][10]

The two kinds of case are compared point by point in criminal case vs. civil case.

What are the deadlines to sue?

Situation	Deadline	Source
Action to recover damages sustained because of criminal sexual conduct	10 years[1]	MCL 600.5805(6), added by 2018 PA 183, effective June 12, 2018[1]
Person who was a minor when victimized	Any time before the later of age 28, or three years after discovering (or when the person through reasonable diligence should have discovered) both the injury and its causal relationship to the criminal sexual conduct[2]	MCL 600.5851b(1)[2]
General rule for a person under 18 when a claim accrues	1 year after the disability of minority is removed, even if the period has run[11]	MCL 600.5851(1)[11]
Action charging assault, battery, or false imprisonment	2 years, subject to the 10-year period above[12]	MCL 600.5805(3)[12]
Fraudulent concealment of the claim or of the identity of the person liable	2 years after the claimant discovers, or should have discovered, the claim or the identity, even if the action would otherwise be barred[13]	MCL 600.5855[13]

The special rule for minors does not replace the general one: the statute says it "does not limit an individual's right to bring an action under section 5851."^[11]

Neither of the two main sections has been amended since 2018. The only history entry for MCL 600.5851b is its addition by 2018 PA 183, and the most recent amendment of MCL 600.5805 is the same act.^[14]

These are the periods the statutes state. When a particular claim "accrued," and whether a discovery or concealment rule applies to it, depends on its facts. Deadlines for filing criminal charges are different and are covered in the statute of limitations for sex crimes.

What did the 2018 law do for older claims?

Less than is sometimes claimed. The 2018 act opened a window of 90 days after its effective date, and only for a person who, while a minor, was a victim after December 31, 1996 but before 2 years before that effective date, where the person alleged to have committed the conduct was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and admitted one of two things the statute lists, involving a physician's position of authority or purported medical treatment.^[15] That window has closed.

Courts have since addressed how the 2018 provisions apply to older events:

• In McLain v Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing (2024), as quoted in the Sexual Assault Benchbook, the Michigan Supreme Court agreed that nothing in the plain language of the discovery provision, MCL 600.5851b(1)(b), suggests it was intended to apply retroactively; the benchbook summarizes that the provision "does not apply retroactively to resurrect expired claims."^[16]
• The benchbook describes a 2026 Court of Appeals decision, MI v Grace Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, as holding that the age-28 provision acts to extend the time to file for a minor victim to age 28 "if the claim was still active" when that provision was enacted.^[17]

Bills that would change the deadlines: pending, not law

Status as of October 4, 2026: Senate Bill 257 of 2025 passed the Michigan Senate on May 20, 2025 by a vote of 25 to 9 and was referred that day to the House Committee on Government Operations. Its history shows no later action. It has not been enacted, and the deadlines in the table above are the law.^[3][14]

According to the Senate Fiscal Agency's analysis of the bills as passed by the Senate, they would do the following if enacted:^[18]

• Allow a victim of criminal sexual conduct to commence an action within 10 years of the crime, by the age of 42, or within seven years of discovering the injury and its connection to the misconduct, whichever is later.^[18]
• Allow an action at any time against an individual who had been convicted for that criminal sexual conduct.^[18]
• Allow a person who was a victim before the bill's effective date to commence an action within a year after the effective date, with recovery of not more than $1.5 million in damages from a single defendant.^[18]

A companion bill, Senate Bill 260 of 2025, would remove governmental immunity for public universities, colleges and school districts in certain cases of employee criminal sexual conduct. It is also a pending bill only: like Senate Bills 258, 259 and 261, its history as of October 4, 2026 ends with referral to the House Committee on Government Operations on May 20, 2025.^[19][20] Legislation can move quickly, so the status of any bill should be checked on the Legislature's website on the day it matters.

Who can be sued?

A tort is a private injury pursued by the injured party, so the starting point is a claim against the individual alleged to have committed the conduct.^[8] Claims against employers and institutions raise additional rules, and for public bodies one of them is governmental immunity.

• Governmental agencies. Except as otherwise provided in the governmental immunity act, a governmental agency is immune from tort liability if it is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. The section's history shows no amendment since 2013.^[19]
• Individual government employees. An employee's immunity depends in part on conduct that "does not amount to gross negligence that is the proximate cause of the injury or damage," and gross negligence means conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results. The subsection also states that it does not alter the law of intentional torts as it existed before July 7, 1986.^[21]
• The State. A claim may not be maintained against the State unless the claimant files a written claim or a written notice of intention to file a claim with the clerk of the Court of Claims within 1 year after the claim has accrued, and for personal injuries the filing is due within 6 months after the event that gives rise to the claim.^[22] The claim itself is barred unless filed within 3 years after it first accrues.^[23]
• Schools, for student-on-student harassment. In 2024 the Michigan Supreme Court held that the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act does not provide a vicarious-liability cause of action against an educational institution for a hostile educational environment that is the result of student-on-student sexual harassment.^[24]

Claims built on workplace harassment law rather than on criminal sexual conduct follow different deadlines; see deadlines for a harassment claim.

What has to be proved, and to what standard?

The civil standard is different from the criminal one, under which a conviction means a fact-finder determined guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.^[25] Michigan's model civil jury instruction tells jurors that for the party with the burden of proof to satisfy it, "the evidence must persuade you that it is more likely than not that the proposition is true."^[4]

How does a criminal case affect the civil case?

A criminal case is not a precondition, but its result can matter as evidence and in the amount recovered.

• Conviction after trial or guilty plea. Evidence of a final judgment of conviction is covered by a hearsay exception if the judgment was entered after a trial or guilty plea, the crime was punishable by imprisonment for more than a year, and the evidence is admitted to prove any fact essential to the judgment.^[26]
• No contest plea. In a civil or criminal case, evidence of a nolo contendere plea is not admissible against the defendant who made the plea, with an exception: it may be admitted in a civil proceeding to defend against a claim asserted by the person who entered the plea.^[27] Plea types are explained in the sister guide's page on guilty vs. no contest pleas.
• Restitution. Restitution "encompasses only those losses which are easily ascertained and measured and are a direct result of a defendant's criminal acts," and is not a substitute for civil damages.^[28] Any amount paid under a restitution order shall be set off against any amount later recovered as compensatory damages in a civil proceeding.^[29]
• Crime victim compensation. The state compensation program is a separate source, and its aggregate award must not exceed $45,000 per claimant.^[30] See crime victim compensation for sexual assault.

Arbitration clauses and confidentiality agreements

Under federal law, a person alleging a sexual assault dispute or sexual harassment dispute may elect that a predispute arbitration agreement not be valid or enforceable for a case filed under federal, tribal or state law that relates to that dispute.^[31] With respect to such a dispute, a nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause agreed to before the dispute arises is not judicially enforceable in instances in which conduct is alleged to have violated federal, tribal or state law.^[32] See NDAs and forced arbitration.

What people get wrong

"Michigan extended the civil statute of limitations in 2025," or "there is a revival window in 2026." As of October 4, 2026 that is not so. The bills passed only the Senate.^[3] Current law is 10 years, or for minors age 28 or three years from discovery.^[1][2]

"The 2018 law reopened old claims." It opened one 90-day window for a narrow class.^[15]

"Survivors can now sue public schools and universities despite immunity." That describes a pending bill.^[19]

"No conviction means no lawsuit." The statute says a prosecution or conviction is not necessary.^[1]

"A restitution order ends the matter." Restitution is set off against a later civil recovery; it does not replace it.^[28][29]

A person named in a civil complaint who disputes the allegation can read false allegations of sexual misconduct. Court protection that does not involve money damages is covered in personal protection orders for sexual assault, and the rights of victims in the criminal process are in rights of sexual assault survivors.