California Codes

Cal. Penal Code § 800 (2026)

Time of Commencing Criminal Actions

✓ current as of May 2026
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Except as provided in Section 799, prosecution for an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for eight years or more or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for eight years or more shall be commenced within six years after commission of the offense.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 71 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1949–2026 · leading case: People v. Robinson, 224 P.3d 55 (Cal. 2010).
People v. Robinson, 224 P.3d 55 (Cal. 2010). · cites it 4× “Each was punishable by imprisonment in state prison for a maximum of eight *1112 years. Therefore, the prosecution had to commence "within six years after commission of the offense[s]" to satisfy the applicable statute of limitations.”
People v. Zamora, 557 P.2d 75 (Cal. 1976). · cites it 4× “As to these counts, the applicable three-year statute of limitations (Pen. Code, § 800), in my view, commenced to run when the substantive offense was committed, and expired prior to the time the indictment was filed.”
People v. Castillo, 168 Cal. App. 4th 364 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “” Penal Code section 803 extends the limitations period for specified sex crimes under certain circumstances.”
People v. Diedrich, 643 P.2d 971 (Cal. 1982). · cites it 2× “Yet both he and Rose argue that the three-year statute of limitations applicable to conspiracy (Pen. Code, § 800, subd. (a)) 16 barred count III as a matter of law.”
Cowan v. Superior Court, 926 P.2d 438 (Cal. 1996). · cites it 2× “Code, § 799), but prosecution of voluntary manslaughter must commence within six years after the commission of the offense (Pen. Code, § 800; see also Pen. Code § 805, subd.”
People v. Padfield, 136 Cal. App. 3d 218 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 3× “” Penal Code section 800 imposes a three-year statute of limitations for grand theft.”
Baxter v. Cal. State Teachers' Ret. Sys., 227 Cal. Rptr. 3d 37 (Cal. Ct. App. 5th 2017). “) In the absence of legislative history to guide us, we consider how courts have construed and applied the term "discovery" in the context of other statutes of limitations, including consideration of the "discovery rule," which is an important aspect of the statute of…”
Bompensiero v. Superior Court, 281 P.2d 250 (Cal. 1955). · cites it 3× “' " Penal Code, section 800, imposes a three-year limitation on the bringing of an indictment for any other felony than murder, the embezzlement of public money, the acceptance of a bribe by a public official or a public employee, or the falsification of public records.”
Williams v. Superior Court, 81 Cal. App. 3d 330 (Cal. Ct. App. 1978). · cites it 2× “(Pen. Code, § 800.) Williams also contends that the statute of limitations has run on both counts.”
Jones v. Superior Court, 478 P.2d 10 (Cal. 1970). · cites it 2× “I cannot agree and instead concur with the action of the trial court in denying the motion to dismiss the information and of the Court of Appeal in denying the instant petition.”
People v. Terry, 454 P.2d 36 (Cal. 1969). · cites it 2× “) 9 He suggests that section 800 embodies a policy judgment by the Legislature that penal sanctions should not be imposed as a result of a finding of guilt of robbery for which prosecution was not commenced within three years after its commission.”
Gasaway v. Superior Court, 70 Cal. App. 3d 545 (Cal. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 4× “On March 21, 1977, petitioners filed demurrers to all four counts on the ground that they were barred by the statute of limitations (Pen. Code, § 800). On April 11, 1977, the trial court overruled the demurrer.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.