How Long Does a Prosecutor Have to File Charges in Indiana?

In Indiana, the statute of limitations for criminal charges is two years for misdemeanors and five years for most felonies, with no time limit at all for murder or Level 1 and Level 2 felonies. Several offenses fall outside those defaults, and specific rules for child victims, DNA evidence, and suspects who leave the state can push a filing deadline much further out. The full schedule sits in Indiana Code 35-41-4-2.

The Core Deadlines

Every misdemeanor must be charged within two years of the offense. If the state does not file an information or indictment, or secure an arrest warrant, inside that window, prosecution is barred.¹

Most felonies carry a five-year deadline. That covers Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, and Level 6 felonies committed after June 30, 2014, and the older Class B, C, and D felonies for conduct before that date.¹

Murder has no deadline, and the statute says so regardless of how much time passes between the act and the victim’s death. Level 1 and Level 2 felonies also have no time limit. The one wrinkle: certain sex offenses that fall at Level 1 or Level 2 follow the child-victim rules below instead of the no-limit rule.¹

Child Sex Offenses

Indiana treats childhood sexual abuse cases differently from other felonies. For a set of specific offenses, prosecution can begin any time before the victim turns 31. Those offenses are child molesting, vicarious sexual gratification, child solicitation, child seduction, sexual misconduct with a minor, and incest.¹

Other sex offenses against children that don’t fall into that list and are not already Level 1 or Level 2 felonies get their own timeline: within ten years of the offense, or within four years after the child is no longer dependent on the alleged offender, whichever is later.¹

DNA, Recordings, and Confessions

The standard deadlines can reopen when new evidence emerges. For a Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5 felony, if DNA analysis implicates someone after the five-year period has closed, the state gets one additional year from when it discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that DNA evidence.¹

Rape charged as a Level 3 felony has a longer extension. When a DNA match or a recording surfaces after the standard deadline, prosecutors have up to ten years from that discovery to file charges.¹

The child sex offenses listed above get the broadest reopener. Even after the victim-turns-31 deadline or the ten-year window has run, the state can still file within five years of the earliest of three triggers: DNA identifying the offender, discovery of a recording sufficient to charge, or a confession.¹

Offenses With Their Own Clocks

A few crimes don’t follow either the two-year or five-year rule:

Forgery of a payment instrument: the five-year clock runs from the maturity date of the instrument, not the date of the forgery.
Securities violations: five years from when the state first discovers, or should have discovered, evidence of the offense. This is one of the few places Indiana uses a true discovery start date.
Misuse of funeral trust funds: five years from the death of the person whose funds were misused.
Theft of public funds or bribery by a public official: the clock is paused for the entire time the person holds elected or appointed office.¹

What Pauses the Clock

The limitations period is not always running. Three situations toll the deadline, and paused time does not count:

The accused is not a usual and public resident of Indiana, or conceals themselves so legal papers cannot be served.
The accused hides evidence of the offense, and the prosecuting authority neither knows about it nor could have found it through reasonable effort.
The accused holds an elected or appointed office, in a case involving theft of public funds or bribery tied to that office.¹

When Prosecution Is Considered “Filed”

The clock stops on whichever of three events comes first: the filing of an indictment, information, or complaint in a court with jurisdiction; the issuance of a valid arrest warrant; or a warrantless arrest by an authorized officer.¹ Formally, prosecutions are initiated by the prosecuting attorney filing an information or indictment in a court with jurisdiction over the charged crime.²

Indiana does not recognize a general discovery rule that delays the start date for crimes that go unnoticed. The delayed-discovery problem is handled through the targeted tolling and DNA rules above, not a blanket exception.

What Happens If Charges Are Dismissed and Refiled

When a charge is dismissed because of a procedural error, defect, or irregularity in the complaint or indictment, the prosecutor gets 90 days to refile. That window applies even if the underlying statute of limitations has already expired or will expire during those 90 days.¹ Miss the 90 days, and the case is finished.

Raising the Defense

An expired deadline does not throw a case out on its own. The defendant has to raise it, typically through a motion to dismiss, and the court then reviews the dates and any tolling the state relies on. A defendant who never raises the issue can be convicted even if the deadline technically ran years earlier.¹

One trap worth knowing: a guilty plea makes the prosecution timely for any offense pleaded to, regardless of whether the limitations period had already expired. Accepting a plea without checking the dates gives up the defense for good. If timing might be an issue in your case, get an attorney to run the calendar before you agree to anything.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-41-4-2 – Periods of Limitation
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-34-1-1 – Commencement of Prosecution; Filing