Michigan's longer deadline to charge sex crimes

Second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct can be charged within 15 years, or by the survivor's 42nd birthday, whichever is later. If there's DNA from an unidentified person, the clock starts when that person is identified (MCL 767.24).

Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct still has a 10-year limit, or until the survivor's 21st birthday, whichever is later (MCL 767.24).

For second- and third-degree, the limit used to be 10 years or the survivor's 21st birthday for adult survivors, and 15 years or the 28th birthday for survivors under 18, whichever was later (House Fiscal Agency).

First-degree criminal sexual conduct can be charged “at any time.” The 2024 changes apply only to crimes committed on or after April 2, 2025, and “do not apply retroactively” (MCL 767.24).

Untested kits can sit for years. Whether a case can still be charged when a kit is finally tested depends on these deadlines. The 2012 Lansing case that reached the Court of Appeals in 2026 was first-degree, so no deadline applied (opinion).