Your Options for Reporting Sexual Assault in Michigan

There is more than one way to report a sexual assault in Michigan, and the routes are separate from one another. The State's guidance is that a person who is 18 or older decides whether to talk to the police or make a police report.^[1] A medical forensic examination, a school's Title IX office, an employer, a licensing board, a civil court and a protection order are each a different door, with a different person in control afterwards and a different clock.

If you are in danger or need medical care, call 911.^[1][7] The National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7 at 800.656.HOPE (4673), or text HOPE to 64673.^[8] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 1-855-864-2374 at any hour and is confidential, anonymous and free.^[9][10] An advocate can talk through these options without asking you to choose one.

This page describes each route: what it starts, who controls it once it has started, and the deadline that applies. It does not recommend one. Local programs are listed in Where to get help.

The routes at a glance

Route	What it starts	Who controls it afterwards	Deadline
Police report	A criminal investigation; the State says police will always take a report.[1]	The prosecuting attorney: the warrant statute calls for the prosecutor's signed written authorization (its only stated alternative is that security for costs is filed), and the victim cannot decide whether the prosecution goes forward or is dismissed.[11][5]	None for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which may be charged at any time; other offenses have limitation periods.[12][13][14]
Forensic exam without a police report	Medical care and collection of an evidence kit, with the patient's consent.[2]	The patient, who decides whether to consent in writing to release the kit to police; the State notes exceptions such as child sexual abuse.[15][16]	The hospital duty applies to an allegation of criminal sexual conduct within the preceding 120 hours; an unreleased kit is stored at least 1 year.[2][4]
Title IX (school or college)	Supportive measures, and a grievance process if a formal complaint is filed.[17]	The school runs the grievance process; the complainant, or the Title IX Coordinator, starts it.[17][18]	The federal definition states no number of days, but the complainant must be participating in or attempting to participate in the school's program when filing.[18]
Employer	Notice to the employer, which matters to its legal responsibility for a hostile environment.[19]	The employer is responsible for taking steps reasonably calculated to stop the harassment; the employee decides whether to go to an agency or court.[20][21]	180 days for a Michigan Department of Civil Rights complaint, 300 days for a federal charge, three years for a state-court suit.[22][23][21]
Licensing board (health professionals)	A written allegation to the state licensing department.[24]	The department; before a complaint is issued, investigation information is confidential.[25]	None, but if the allegation is submitted more than 4 years after the incident the department may investigate and is not required to.[24]
Civil suit	A private claim for money damages, decided on a more-likely-than-not standard.[26][27]	The person suing.[26]	10 years for damages from criminal sexual conduct; for a person who was a minor, until age 28 or three years after discovery, whichever is later.[6][28]
Personal protection order (PPO)	A petition to the family division of circuit court for a court order restraining the other person.[29][30]	The petitioner files; a judge decides.[31][30]	Not tied to a criminal case: it may be sought whether or not anyone has been charged.[31]

Reporting to the police

A report can be made by calling 911 in an emergency or by contacting the police department where the assault happened.^[1] A report starts an investigation, not a prosecution. A judge or magistrate may not issue a warrant for anything other than a minor offense unless a written authorization signed by the prosecuting attorney is filed, "or unless security for costs is filed."^[11] How that decision is made is in Who decides to charge a sex crime, and the investigation itself is in How sex crime investigations work.

Two things follow from that. First, a person who reports does not control the case afterwards: Michigan courts have said a crime victim may not determine whether a prosecution goes forward or is dismissed.^[5] The victim does have a statutory right to be consulted before the prosecutor finalizes a dismissal, plea or sentence bargain.^[32] Second, reporting brings rights to information. Within 24 hours after first contact, the investigating agency must give a sexual assault victim a written copy of, or access to, information that includes a local sexual assault program's contact details, if available, and notice of the right to request case and DNA-testing information.^[33] Those later updates are provided on request; the agency need not volunteer them.^[34]

Is there a deadline?

There is no separate deadline for making a police report. The limit is the criminal statute of limitations, and a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct may be filed at any time.^[12] For second- and third-degree offenses committed on or after April 2, 2025, charges may be filed within 15 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 42nd birthday, whichever is later; that longer period does not apply retroactively to earlier offenses.^[13] For fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, the period is 10 years or the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later.^[14] The full rules, including the DNA exception, are in Statute of limitations for sex crimes, and what a delay means for a case is in Delayed reporting.

A forensic exam without a police report

If a person tells a hospital's attending or admitting staff that within the preceding 120 hours they were the victim of criminal sexual conduct, the staff must immediately tell the person that a sexual assault medical forensic examination, including an evidence kit, is available, and must perform it if the person consents.^[2] A victim cannot be required to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement as a condition of the examination.^[3]

Payment does not fall on the patient. The statute says a health care provider shall not submit a bill for any portion of the costs of the examination to the victim, including a deductible, a co-pay or a claim an insurer denies.^[35] A claim goes to the patient's insurer only with express written consent.^[36] If insurance does not pay or is unavailable, the provider may seek payment from the crime victim services commission, from another entity other than the victim, or both.^[37]

The kit then waits for the patient's decision:

• If the patient consents in writing to release it, the facility must notify police within 24 hours.^[15] The police agency must take possession within 14 days, and must send the kit to a laboratory within 14 days after that.^[38][39] The laboratory is to analyze it within 90 days after receiving all the necessary evidence, but only "provided that sufficient staffing and resources are available to do so."^[40] A missed deadline does not end the agency's authority to collect or submit the kit or the laboratory's authority to analyze it.^[41]
• If the patient does not consent, the facility must explain how long it will keep the kit and how it can be released later, and must store it for a minimum of 1 year before destroying it.^[4] One year is the statutory floor; ask the facility what its own period is.

Three limits on "without the police" are worth knowing. A hospital, physician or surgeon treating a wound or injury inflicted by a deadly weapon "or by other means of violence" has a duty to report that fact to police, and the State notes that the exam-payment program does not change that duty; the patient still chooses whether to talk to the police.^[42] Testing for drugs used to facilitate an assault is the part of the exam for which the State says a police report is required, and it advises that some drugs can be detected only within 12 hours.^[43] And where the patient is a child, doctors and nurses are among the people Michigan law requires to report suspected child abuse.^[44] More detail is in The sexual assault forensic exam and Kit testing deadlines.

Telling a school or college: Title IX

A school that has actual knowledge of sexual harassment in its program must respond promptly in a way that is not deliberately indifferent.^[17] In an elementary or secondary school, notice to any employee counts as actual knowledge; at a college, it means notice to the Title IX Coordinator or an official with authority to take corrective measures.^[45] The Title IX Coordinator must then promptly contact the complainant, discuss supportive measures, consider the complainant's wishes about them, and explain how to file a formal complaint.^[17] Supportive measures, such as schedule changes or mutual no-contact restrictions, are available with or without a formal complaint.^[45]

These are the federal Title IX regulations as restored to the Code of Federal Regulations on September 29, 2026.^[46] A formal complaint is a document filed by the complainant, or signed by the Title IX Coordinator, asking the school to investigate.^[18] The school may not discipline the respondent until it has followed the grievance process.^[17] If the complainant later asks in writing to withdraw, the school may dismiss the complaint; the rule says "may."^[47] A college student keeps the choice about police: colleges must tell victims in writing that they may notify law enforcement or decline to.^[48] A school process and a criminal case can run at the same time; concurrent law enforcement activity is listed as good cause for a temporary delay of the school process.^[49] Staff in K-12 schools, such as teachers, counselors and administrators, are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse.^[44] See The Title IX process and Title IX and criminal charges at the same time.

Telling an employer

Reporting at work is a civil-rights route, not a criminal one. In a hostile-environment claim under Michigan law, an employer is legally responsible only if it had adequate notice of the harassment, failed to take prompt and adequate remedial action, and further harassment followed.^[19] Michigan's civil rights act separately prohibits retaliation against a person for opposing a violation or making a complaint.^[50]

The outside deadlines differ by forum. A complaint to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights must be filed within 180 days after the alleged discrimination.^[22] A person in Michigan has 300 days to file a federal charge against an employer with 15 or more employees.^[23] A claim under Michigan law may be filed in state court within three years, without filing with the department first.^[21] See Workplace sexual harassment law and Deadlines to file a sexual harassment claim.

A complaint to a licensing board

Where the person is a licensed health professional, any person may submit a written allegation to the state licensing department. If it is submitted more than 4 years after the incident, the department may investigate but is not required to.^[24] Information obtained in the investigation before a complaint is issued, including patient names, is confidential.^[25] The person who files does not run the case; the department does. See Licensing board investigations.

A civil lawsuit

The same act can be both a crime, pursued by the state, and a private wrong, pursued by the injured person.^[26] The period of limitations is 10 years for an action to recover damages sustained because of criminal sexual conduct, and the statute says no criminal prosecution or conviction is needed.^[6] A person who was a minor at the time may sue at any time before the later of reaching age 28 or three years after discovering the injury and its connection to the conduct.^[28] The standard is that the claim is more likely than not true.^[27] See Civil lawsuits for sexual assault and Criminal case vs. civil case.

A personal protection order

A person who has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in reasonable apprehension of sexual assault by another person may petition for a personal protection order, whether or not that person has been charged or convicted.^[31] The petition has to allege facts showing that the respondent perpetrated or threatened sexual assault against the petitioner.^[31] The order comes from the family division of circuit court.^[30] An order issued without notice to the other side is valid for not less than 182 days, and the person restrained has 14 days after service or actual notice to ask the court to modify or rescind it, unless good cause is shown for a later motion.^[51][52] The standards are in Sexual assault PPOs, and the filing steps are in the Domestic Violence guide's How to get a PPO in Michigan.

What people get wrong about reporting

• "You have to report to get the exam, or the exam is free only if you press charges." Neither is the law. Cooperation cannot be required, and the provider may not bill the patient.^[3][35]
• "If I don't release the kit now, it is kept until I'm ready." The statutory minimum is 1 year at the health care facility.^[4]
• "The lab has to test every kit in 90 days." The 90-day figure applies only if sufficient staffing and resources are available.^[40]
• "I can drop the charges later." The decision belongs to the prosecutor; the victim has a right to be consulted.^[5][32]
• "Choosing one route closes the others." A civil claim needs no criminal case, a protection order needs no charge, and supportive measures at school need no formal complaint.^[6][31][17]

Service members and their adult dependents have a further choice under federal law: a restricted report, made confidentially to designated people, that brings medical treatment and counseling without starting an official investigation.^[53] That system is covered in Military sexual assault cases. Your rights after any of these choices are in Rights of sexual assault survivors in Michigan.