How Long Does the DA Have to File Charges in Oregon?

In Oregon, the district attorney generally has three years to file charges for a felony and two years for a misdemeanor, with six months for a non-criminal violation. Those defaults, set by ORS 131.125, cover most cases, but dozens of specific offenses carry longer windows and a short list carries no deadline at all. How long the DA has to file charges in Oregon depends on the offense itself, not on the felony class.

The Default Deadlines

Unless the legislature has written a specific exception for a particular crime, three categories govern:

Three years for any felony not listed elsewhere in the statute
Two years for any misdemeanor
Six months for a violation (a non-criminal infraction such as a traffic ticket)¹

Those defaults cover the vast majority of Oregon criminal cases, including theft, assault in the second or third degree, DUII, disorderly conduct, and drug possession. One point catches people off guard: Oregon does not assign longer deadlines based on felony class. A Class A felony like Assault in the First Degree gets the same three-year window as a Class C felony unless there is a specific carve-out.

Crimes That Get Longer Than the Default

Several categories get more time because of the nature of the offense.

Arson

Arson in any degree carries a six-year statute of limitations, whether charged as first-, second-, or third-degree.²

Crimes Against Victims 65 or Older

When the victim was 65 or older at the time of the offense, a set of felonies gets six years instead of three. The list includes theft in the first degree, aggravated theft in the first degree, extortion, robbery in any degree, forgery in the first degree, fraudulent use of a credit card, and identity theft.² The same offense against a younger victim reverts to the three-year default.

Certain Misdemeanors Involving Vulnerable Victims

Four misdemeanors get four years instead of two: strangulation (the misdemeanor form), sexual abuse in the third degree, exhibiting an obscene performance to a minor, and displaying obscene materials to minors. If the victim was under 18, charges can be filed anytime before the victim turns 22, or within four years after the offense is reported to law enforcement or the Department of Human Services, whichever comes first.¹

Sex Offense Deadlines

Oregon’s longest filing deadlines apply to sex crimes, with the timeline depending on the severity of the offense and the age of the victim.

First-Degree Sex Offenses: 20 Years

The most serious sex crimes carry a 20-year statute of limitations. This tier includes rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, unlawful sexual penetration in the first degree, and sexual abuse in the first degree. If the victim was under 18 at the time, the DA can file anytime before the victim turns 30, whichever deadline is later.¹

Second- and Third-Degree Sex Offenses: 6 Years

A broader group of felony sex offenses carries a six-year baseline. The group includes second- and third-degree rape, second- and third-degree sodomy, unlawful sexual penetration in the second degree, sexual abuse in the second degree, felony strangulation, criminal mistreatment in the first degree, incest, using a child in a display of sexual conduct, encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree, promoting prostitution, compelling prostitution, and luring a minor.²

When the victim was under 18, the deadline extends dramatically. Charges can be filed anytime before the victim turns 30, or within 12 years after the offense is reported to law enforcement or the Department of Human Services, whichever of those two dates comes first.² A crime committed against a five-year-old that goes unreported until the victim is 25 could still be prosecuted.

DNA Evidence Can Reopen the Clock

Oregon has a specific provision for cases where DNA identifies a suspect after the normal deadline has already passed. For first-degree sex offenses (rape, sodomy, unlawful sexual penetration, and sexual abuse), the statute of limitations is eliminated entirely when the defendant is identified through DNA. For the second-degree versions of those same crimes, the deadline extends to 25 years after the offense.²

There is a catch. Even with a DNA identification, the prosecution must begin within two years of the identification itself.² A cold-case DNA hit in 2026 gives the DA until 2028 to file.

Crimes With No Deadline at All

A handful of offenses carry no statute of limitations. The DA can file at any point, whether the crime happened last year or 40 years ago. The list includes murder, aggravated murder, attempted murder or aggravated murder, conspiracy or solicitation to commit murder or aggravated murder, and manslaughter in any degree.¹ First-degree sex offenses also lose their time limit when a defendant is identified through DNA, as noted above.

Fraud and Other Late-Discovery Crimes

Some crimes aren’t discovered until well after they occur. When an offense has fraud or breach of a fiduciary duty as a core element, the DA gets an additional year after the crime is discovered to file. The total extension from the discovery rule can never exceed three years beyond the original deadline.²

Similar rules apply to misconduct in office by a public employee (prosecution can begin while the person holds the position and up to two years after they leave, capped at three years) and to invasion of personal privacy (one year after discovery, capped at a three-year extension).²

When the Clock Starts, Pauses, and Stops

The clock starts the day after the offense is committed.³ For most crimes, the relevant date is the day the act occurred. The late-discovery rules above apply where the statute specifies them.

The clock pauses, or “tolls,” whenever the accused leaves Oregon or is no longer a usual resident of the state. It also pauses if the accused is hiding within Oregon to avoid being served with legal process. These rules prevent someone from running out the clock by skipping town or going underground.³

There is a hard cap. Tolling can never add more than three years to the original deadline.³ A felony with a three-year deadline could stretch to a maximum of six years if the defendant spent the entire period out of state. After that, the case is time-barred.

One detail people miss: a prosecution is considered “commenced” when a warrant or other process is issued, not when the defendant is actually arrested or appears in court. The warrant must be executed without unreasonable delay, but the filing date itself is what counts for statute of limitations purposes.³

Raising a Statute of Limitations Defense

If charges were filed after the deadline expired, the defense is not automatic. You or your attorney must file a motion to dismiss arguing that the statute of limitations has run. Courts will not raise the issue on their own. The motion needs to lay out when the offense allegedly occurred, which time limit applies, and why the filing came too late after accounting for any tolling.

This defense has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. It is purely a timing argument. If the motion succeeds, the charges are dismissed and cannot be refiled. If the court finds that tolling applied or disagrees about the timeline, the case proceeds normally.

Speedy Trial Is a Separate Protection

The statute of limitations governs how long the DA can wait before filing. Once charges are filed or you are arrested, a different clock starts: the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, which protects against unreasonable delay between being charged and going to trial.⁴ These are separate protections for different problems.

The Sixth Amendment does not cover the gap between the crime and the filing of charges. If the DA waits two years and eleven months to charge a three-year felony, the speedy trial right has not kicked in yet. Protection during that pre-charge window comes from the Due Process Clause instead, and that is a harder argument to win. You would need to show the delay was intentional or grossly negligent and that it actually destroyed evidence or testimony you needed for your defense. Arguing that memories fade over time is not enough.

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 131.125 – Time Limitations
2
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code ORS 131.125 – Time Limitations
3
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 131
4
Constitution Annotated. Overview of Right to a Speedy Trial