§ 131.155 Tolling of statute; three-year maximum

There's a rule that lets prosecutors pause the clock on the deadline for filing criminal charges in certain situations, like when a suspect leaves the state. This is called "tolling" the statute of limitations. This law puts a limit on how much that clock can be paused.

No matter how many reasons exist to pause the deadline, prosecutors cannot get more than three extra years added on top of the normal time limit. So if a crime normally has a five year deadline for charges to be filed, the most that deadline can ever be stretched to is eight years, even if several different events would have paused the clock along the way.

This protects defendants from facing charges decades after something happened, even if there were legal reasons that could have paused the deadline multiple times. It sets a hard outer limit so people are not left wondering forever whether they might still be charged with a crime from long ago.