Statute of Limitations Laws

Federal Statute of Limitation Laws

• Federal statutes of limitation apply to federal cases. Whether the case is a criminal case or a civil case, there is a statute of limitation. This prevents a plaintiff from harassing the defendant in an ongoing manner.
  
  

Federal Criminal Statute of Limitation Laws

• Federal criminal statutes of limitation laws apply to federal crimes. A crime may be deemed federal if it involves mail fraud, if the crime crosses state lines or the crime involves buying and selling illegal weapons, to name a few. Each type of crime has its own statute of limitations. There are certain federal crimes that do not have a statute of limitations. These are major crimes, such as murder.
  
  

Federal Civil Statute of Limitation Laws

• Federal civil cases may include cases such as certain employment-related cases or other civil cases wherein the plaintiff is suing for a large amount of money. Like federal criminal cases, there are certain statutes of limitation that are applied to the different types of civil cases.
  
  

State Criminal Statute of Limitation Laws

• State criminal statutes of limitation laws not only vary from state to state, but from crime to crime also. Each state's criminal statute of limitation laws are dictated by the state's statutes. The statutes are divided into sections based on the type of law-whether criminal or civil. For criminal statutes of limitations, navigate to the criminal section of the state's statutes, then navigate to the type of crime, whether arson, breaking and entering, etc. In certain types of cases (for some states), the statutes provide rules that allow the clock to keep ticking or to be reset. This is commonly applied to crimes against children. Major crimes, such as murder, do not have a statute of limitations.
  
  

State Civil Statute of Limitation Laws

• Each civil action has its own statute of limitations. For example, in Florida, professional malpractice gives the plaintiff two years from the date of the act or two years from the date the injury was detected to file. The states' statutes of limitations can be confusing to the average layperson, because of the exceptions. Other personal injury cases in Florida have a time limit of four years. Some contracts have five-year limitations, some have four-year limitations.