TITLE 18 - US CODE - CHAPTER 213 - LIMITATIONS

18 USC 3281 - Capital offenses

An indictment for any offense punishable by death may be found at any time without limitation.

18 USC 3282 - Offenses not capital

(a) In General.—
Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense, not capital, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within five years next after such offense shall have been committed.

(b) DNA Profile Indictment.—

(1) In general.—
In any indictment for an offense under chapter 109A for which the identity of the accused is unknown, it shall be sufficient to describe the accused as an individual whose name is unknown, but who has a particular DNA profile.

(2) Exception.—
Any indictment described under paragraph (1), which is found not later than 5 years after the offense under chapter 109A is committed, shall not be subject to

(A) the limitations period described under subsection (a); and

(B) the provisions of chapter 208 until the individual is arrested or served with a summons in connection with the charges contained in the indictment.

(3) Defined term.—
For purposes of this subsection, the term DNA profile means a set of DNA identification characteristics.

18 USC 3283 - Offenses against children

No statute of limitations that would otherwise preclude prosecution for an offense involving the sexual or physical abuse, or kidnaping, of a child under the age of 18 years shall preclude such prosecution during the life of the child, or for ten years after the offense, whichever is longer.

18 USC 3284 - Concealment of bankrupts assets

The concealment of assets of a debtor in a case under title 11 shall be deemed to be a continuing offense until the debtor shall have been finally discharged or a discharge denied, and the period of limitations shall not begin to run until such final discharge or denial of discharge.

18 USC 3285 - Criminal contempt

No proceeding for criminal contempt within section 402 of this title shall be instituted against any person, corporation or association unless begun within one year from the date of the act complained of; nor shall any such proceeding be a bar to any criminal prosecution for the same act.

18 USC 3286 - Extension of statute of limitation for certain terrorism offenses

(a) Eight-Year Limitation.—
Notwithstanding section 3282, no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any noncapital offense involving a violation of any provision listed in section 2332b (g)(5)(B), or a violation of section 112, 351 (e), 1361, or 1751 (e) of this title, or section 46504, 46505, or 46506 of title 49, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within 8 years after the offense was committed. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, offenses listed in section 3295 are subject to the statute of limitations set forth in that section.

(b) No Limitation.—
Notwithstanding any other law, an indictment may be found or an information instituted at any time without limitation for any offense listed in section 2332b (g)(5)(B), if the commission of such offense resulted in, or created a forseeable^[1] risk of, death or serious bodily injury to another person.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “foreseeable”.

18 USC 3287 - Wartime suspension of limitations

When the United States is at war or Congress has enacted a specific authorization for the use of the Armed Forces, as described in section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544 (b)), the running of any statute of limitations applicable to any offense

(1) involving fraud or attempted fraud against the United States or any agency thereof in any manner, whether by conspiracy or not, or

(2) committed in connection with the acquisition, care, handling, custody, control or disposition of any real or personal property of the United States, or

(3) committed in connection with the negotiation, procurement, award, performance, payment for, interim financing, cancelation, or other termination or settlement, of any contract, subcontract, or purchase order which is connected with or related to the prosecution of the war or directly connected with or related to the authorized use of the Armed Forces, or with any disposition of termination inventory by any war contractor or Government agency, shall be suspended until 5 years after the termination of hostilities as proclaimed by a Presidential proclamation, with notice to Congress, or by a concurrent resolution of Congress.

Definitions of terms in section 103 of title 41 shall apply to similar terms used in this section. For purposes of applying such definitions in this section, the term war includes a specific authorization for the use of the Armed Forces, as described in section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544 (b)).

18 USC 3288 - Indictments and information dismissed after period of limitations

Whenever an indictment or information charging a felony is dismissed for any reason after the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations has expired, a new indictment may be returned in the appropriate jurisdiction within six calendar months of the date of the dismissal of the indictment or information, or, in the event of an appeal, within 60 days of the date the dismissal of the indictment or information becomes final, or, if no regular grand jury is in session in the appropriate jurisdiction when the indictment or information is dismissed, within six calendar months of the date when the next regular grand jury is convened, which new indictment shall not be barred by any statute of limitations. This section does not permit the filing of a new indictment or information where the reason for the dismissal was the failure to file the indictment or information within the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations, or some other reason that would bar a new prosecution.

18 USC 3289 - Indictments and information dismissed before period of limitations

Whenever an indictment or information charging a felony is dismissed for any reason before the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations has expired, and such period will expire within six calendar months of the date of the dismissal of the indictment or information, a new indictment may be returned in the appropriate jurisdiction within six calendar months of the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, or, in the event of an appeal, within 60 days of the date the dismissal of the indictment or information becomes final, or, if no regular grand jury is in session in the appropriate jurisdiction at the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, within six calendar months of the date when the next regular grand jury is convened, which new indictment shall not be barred by any statute of limitations. This section does not permit the filing of a new indictment or information where the reason for the dismissal was the failure to file the indictment or information within the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations, or some other reason that would bar a new prosecution.

18 USC 3290 - Fugitives from justice

No statute of limitations shall extend to any person fleeing from justice.

18 USC 3291 - Nationality, citizenship and passports

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for violation of any provision of sections 1423 to 1428, inclusive, of chapter 69 and sections 1541 to 1544, inclusive, of chapter 75 of title 18 of the United States Code, or for conspiracy to violate any of such sections, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within ten years after the commission of the offense.

18 USC 3292 - Suspension of limitations to permit United States to obtain foreign evidence

(a)

(1) Upon application of the United States, filed before return of an indictment, indicating that evidence of an offense is in a foreign country, the district court before which a grand jury is impaneled to investigate the offense shall suspend the running of the statute of limitations for the offense if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that an official request has been made for such evidence and that it reasonably appears, or reasonably appeared at the time the request was made, that such evidence is, or was, in such foreign country.

(2) The court shall rule upon such application not later than thirty days after the filing of the application.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a period of suspension under this section shall begin on the date on which the official request is made and end on the date on which the foreign court or authority takes final action on the request.

(1) shall not exceed three years; and

(2) shall not extend a period within which a criminal case must be initiated for more than six months if all foreign authorities take final action before such period would expire without regard to this section.

(d) As used in this section, the term official request means a letter rogatory, a request under a treaty or convention, or any other request for evidence made by a court of the United States or an authority of the United States having criminal law enforcement responsibility, to a court or other authority of a foreign country.

18 USC 3293 - Financial institution offenses

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a violation of, or a conspiracy to violate

(1) section 215, 656, 657, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1014, 1033, or 1344;

(2) section 1341 or 1343, if the offense affects a financial institution; or

(3) section 1963, to the extent that the racketeering activity involves a violation of section 1344;

unless the indictment is returned or the information is filed within 10 years after the commission of the offense.

18 USC 3294 - Theft of major artwork

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a violation of or conspiracy to violate section 668 unless the indictment is returned or the information is filed within 20 years after the commission of the offense.

18 USC 3295 - Arson offenses

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any non-capital offense under section 81 or subsection (f), (h), or (i) of section 844 unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted not later than 10 years after the date on which the offense was committed.

18 USC 3296 - Counts dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement

(a) In General.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any counts of an indictment or information that are dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement shall be reinstated by the District Court if

(1) the counts sought to be reinstated were originally filed within the applicable limitations period;

(2) the counts were dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement approved by the District Court under which the defendant pled guilty to other charges;

(3) the guilty plea was subsequently vacated on the motion of the defendant; and

(4) the United States moves to reinstate the dismissed counts within 60 days of the date on which the order vacating the plea becomes final.

(b) Defenses; Objections.—
Nothing in this section shall preclude the District Court from considering any defense or objection, other than statute of limitations, to the prosecution of the counts reinstated under subsection (a).

18 USC 3297 - Cases involving DNA evidence

In a case in which DNA testing implicates an identified person in the commission of a felony, no statute of limitations that would otherwise preclude prosecution of the offense shall preclude such prosecution until a period of time following the implication of the person by DNA testing has elapsed that is equal to the otherwise applicable limitation period.

18 USC 3298 - Trafficking-related offenses

No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any non-capital offense or conspiracy to commit a non-capital offense under section 1581 (Peonage; Obstructing Enforcement), 1583 (Enticement into Slavery), 1584 (Sale into Involuntary Servitude), 1589 (Forced Labor), 1590 (Trafficking with Respect to Peonage, Slavery, Involuntary Servitude, or Forced Labor), or 1592 (Unlawful Conduct with Respect to Documents in furtherance of Trafficking, Peonage, Slavery, Involuntary Servitude, or Forced Labor) of this title or under section 274(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted not later than 10 years after the commission of the offense.

18 USC 3299 - Child abduction and sex offenses

Notwithstanding any other law, an indictment may be found or an information instituted at any time without limitation for any offense under section 1201 involving a minor victim, and for any felony under chapter 109A, 110 (except for section^[1] 2257 and 2257A), or 117, or section 1591.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “sections”.

18 USC 3300 - Recruitment or use of child soldiers

No person may be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a violation of section 2442 unless the indictment or the information is filed not later than 10 years after the commission of the offense.