The statute of limitations on armed robbery runs anywhere from four years to no limit at all, depending on where the crime happened. Federal armed robbery charges generally must be filed within five years. State deadlines vary so widely that the only reliable answer comes from the law of the state where the robbery occurred.
State Deadlines Vary Enormously
Every state writes its own rule. At the short end, a few states give prosecutors only four or five years to charge a robbery offense. Many states cluster around ten years for armed or aggravated robbery. Others set six, seven, or twenty. And several states impose no deadline at all.1Justia. Criminal Statutes of Limitations – 50-State Survey
States that eliminate the deadline usually do so through a broader rule covering all violent felonies, all crimes involving the use or threat of force, or any offense punishable by life imprisonment. Armed robbery often falls into one of those categories.1Justia. Criminal Statutes of Limitations – 50-State Survey
The practical point: do not assume armed robbery carries a long deadline just because it is a serious felony. The window could be short, long, or nonexistent. Check the exact statute in the state where the offense took place.
Federal Armed Robbery: Five Years
Most armed robberies are prosecuted by state district attorneys. A case goes federal when it hits a federally protected institution or affects interstate commerce.
Federal bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113 covers any member bank of the Federal Reserve System and any federally insured bank, credit union, or savings and loan. That definition sweeps in nearly every bank in the country, so any armed bank holdup is potentially a federal matter.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2113 – Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes Prosecutors can also use the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, to charge an armed robbery that affects interstate commerce in any way, which can reach a holdup of a store that sells goods shipped across state lines.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1951 – Interference With Commerce by Threats or Violence
Both charges fall under the general federal statute of limitations for non-capital felonies: five years from the date of the offense.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital
The Exception for Killings
If someone is killed during a federal bank robbery, § 2113(e) makes the offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2113 – Bank Robbery and Incidental Crimes Any federal offense punishable by death has no statute of limitations, so that charge can be brought at any time.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3281 – Capital Offenses
When the Clock Starts and When It Stops
The clock begins on the day the robbery is committed. An arrest does not stop it. The deadline is only met when the prosecutor formally files charges in court, either by information or by grand jury indictment. Once that filing happens in time, the statute of limitations is satisfied for good, no matter how long the arrest, trial, or conviction takes after that.
That distinction matters when an investigation stalls. Police can identify a suspect early, but if the prosecutor’s office waits too long to file the paperwork, the window can close even when everyone knows who did it. Filing is what counts.
What Pauses the Clock
Several circumstances can toll, or pause, the statute of limitations and give prosecutors more time than the base deadline suggests.
Fleeing the Jurisdiction
Federal law stops the clock entirely for anyone fleeing from justice.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3290 – Fugitives From Justice Most states have the same rule. Leave the state to avoid prosecution and the clock pauses until you return or are brought back. Running does not run out the deadline; it suspends it.
DNA Evidence
When investigators have DNA from the scene but no name, some states allow prosecutors to charge an unidentified “John Doe” by genetic profile. Filing that warrant stops the clock, and the case moves forward once a database match identifies the person.7National Institute of Justice. DNA – A Prosecutors Practice Notebook
Federal law uses a different mechanism. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3297, when DNA testing implicates an identified person in a felony, the limitations period is extended by a period equal to the original deadline. For federal armed robbery, that means a DNA identification gives prosecutors another five years from the match.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3297 – Cases Involving DNA Evidence
Evidence Held Abroad
If critical evidence sits in another country, federal prosecutors can ask the court to suspend the statute of limitations while an official request for that evidence is pending. The suspension cannot exceed three years, and it is capped at six months if the foreign government responds before the original deadline would have expired.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3292 – Suspension of Limitations to Permit United States to Obtain Foreign Evidence
Juvenile Offenders
Many states do not start the clock running against someone who was a minor at the time of the offense until that person reaches the age of majority, usually eighteen. The specifics vary, and not every state applies this rule to felony cases.
What Happens Once the Deadline Passes
When the statute of limitations expires without a charging document being filed, the government is permanently barred from prosecuting that armed robbery. A later confession, surveillance footage, or eyewitness account will not revive the case. Any charges filed after the deadline can be dismissed on a defense motion, and the bar is absolute.
Civil Lawsuits Follow a Separate Clock
The criminal deadline does not control what the victim can do. A civil lawsuit for personal injury, assault, or property recovery runs on its own statute of limitations, independent of the criminal one. Civil windows are generally shorter, often one to four years depending on the state and the claim. The two timelines can expire years apart, so neither one tells you anything about the other.