In this section, our attorneys explain Nevada’s criminal laws and legal concepts, A to Z
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Call Us NowI Committed a Crime in Nevada a Long Time Ago. Can I Still Be Charged?
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With the exception of extremely violent crimes, you might be able to escape prosecution in Nevada if enough time has passed since you committed the offense.
The majority of Nevada crimes have statutes of limitations, which spell out a time limit during which a D.A. may press charges for it. Whenever a prosecutor files charges for a crime after its statute of limitations has run, the accused can ask the court to dismiss those charges.
NRS 171.080, et seq., sets forth Nevada’s criminal statutes of limitations. Nevada misdemeanors have a one-year statute of limitations. Gross misdemeanors have a two-year statute of limitations. Theft, robbery, burglary, forgery, arson, and business fraud have four-year statutes of limitations. Other felonies have three-year statutes of limitations, with these exceptions:
- Murder has no statute of limitations.
- Sexual assault and sex trafficking have a four-year statute of limitations unless the victim (or a person authorized to act on his/her behalf) files a police report about it during those four years, in which case there is no statute of limitations. (NRS 171.083)
- The statute of limitations for sexual abuse or sex trafficking of a child depends on the age of the victim and what he/she knew when: A victim aged 36 can no longer seek criminal charges if he/she discovered or reasonably should have discovered that he/she was a victim of the sexual abuse or sex trafficking by that age. Otherwise, a victim can no longer seek charges at age 43. (NRS 171.095)
- And if the crime was committed secretly, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the police discover it. (NRS 171.095)
Learn more in our article, Statute of limitations in Reno.
About the Author
Neil Shouse
A former Los Angeles prosecutor, attorney Neil Shouse graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School (and completed additional graduate studies at MIT). He has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, The Today Show and Court TV. Mr Shouse has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Criminal and Top 100 Civil Attorneys.
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