Let’s look at the Tennessee criminal statute of limitations laws. Unlike many other states, Tennessee has made no recent changes to the statute of limitation laws in light of improvements in DNA technology.

Under the Tennessee criminal statute of limitations laws, there is no statute of limitations for forcible rape. There is no statute of limitations for any offense punishable by life in prison, or by the death penalty. For these offenses, prosecution may begin even 77 years after the offense was committed.

The statute of limitations for Class A felonies under the Tennessee criminal statute of limitations laws is 15 years. The statute of limitations for arson is 8 years. For Class B felonies, it is 8 years. Class C and Class D felonies in Tennessee carry a 4 year statute of limitations. The statute of limitations for Class E felonies is 2 years. For misdemeanors, the statute of limitation is 1 year.

Tennessee is one of the few states that have a felony charge for non-support. The statute of limitations applies to felony non-support, just as it would to any other felony of the same class.

Most crimes under the state revenue laws, such as tax evasion, have a statute of limitation of 3 years. However, in some cases involving fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion, the statute of limitations is 6 years. Aiding and abetting, counseling or advising and filing a false tax return also have a 6 year statute of limitations.

For crimes against children committed on or after July 1, 1997 (when the current law was passed), the statute of limitations extends until the child is 21 years old. This is a very lenient standard. Most states extend the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children until the child is 25. In some states, the statute of limitations doesn’t begin until the child is 16, 18 or even 21. As far as I know, Delaware is the only other state that limits prosecution after the child’s 21^st birthday.  

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Criminal Laws, Criminal Statute of Limitations Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.