Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (2026)
Time limitation on prosecutions
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1)
- (a) The passage of time shall never bar prosecution against any person for the offenses of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, aggravated domestic violence, kidnapping, arson, burglary, forgery, counterfeiting, robbery, larceny, rape, embezzlement, obtaining money or property under false pretenses or by fraud, felonious abuse or battery of a child as described in Section 97-5-39, touching or handling a child for lustful purposes as described in Section 97-5-23, sexual battery of a child as described in Section 97-3-95(1)(c), (d) or (2), exploitation of children as described in Section 97-5-33, promoting prostitution under Section 97-29-51(2) when the person involved is a minor, felonious abuse of vulnerable persons, as described in Section 43-47-18, sexual battery as described in Section 97-3-95(1)(a) or (b) when the identity of the accused is later discovered due to results of DNA testing of biological evidence, or any human trafficking offense as described in Section 97-3-54.1(1)(a), (1)(b) or (1)(c), Section 97-3-54.2, or Section 97-3-54.3.
- (b) A person shall not be prosecuted for felonious assistance-program fraud, as described in Section 97-19-71, or for felonious abuse of vulnerable persons, as described in Section 43-47-19, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within five (5) years after the commission thereof.
- (c) A person shall not be prosecuted for larceny of timber as described in Section 97-17-59, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within six (6) years after the commission thereof.
- (d) The time limitation on prosecution for conspiracy, as described in Section 97-1-1, shall be the same as for the underlying offense for which the defendant is accused of conspiring to commit.
- (e) A person shall not be prosecuted for bribery as defined in Section 97-11-11, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within five (5) years after the commission thereof.
- (2) A person shall not be prosecuted for any other offense not listed in this section unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within two (2) years after the commission thereof.
- (3) Nothing contained in this section shall bar any prosecution against any person who shall abscond or flee from justice, or shall absent himself from this state or out of the jurisdiction of the court, or so conduct himself that he cannot be found by the officers of the law, or that process cannot be served upon him.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 65, art. 2(52); 1857, ch. 64, art. 247; 1871, § 2766; 1880, § 3002; 1892, § 1342; 1906, § 1414; Hemingway's 1917, § 1169; 1930, § 1194; 1942, § 2437; Laws, 1912, ch. 261; Laws, 1989, ch. 567, § 1; Laws, 1990, ch. 412, § 1; Laws, 1993, ch. 440, § 1; Laws, 1998, ch. 582, § 1; Laws, 2003, ch. 497, § 1; Laws, 2004, ch. 539, § 1; Laws, 2008, ch. 530, § 1; Laws, 2010, ch. 358, § 1; Laws, 2012, ch. 439, § 3; Laws, 2012, ch. 455, § 1, eff. 7/1/2012.
Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 519, HB 1323,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 475, HB 405,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 378, SB 2337,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 565, HB 709, 2, eff. 7/1/2013.
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 543, HB 673, 18, eff. 7/1/2013.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 61
cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1974–2026 · leading case: Hosan M. Azomani v. State of Mississippi, 222 So. 3d 343 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016).
Hosan M. Azomani v. State of Mississippi, 222 So. 3d 343 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016). “” Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 . There is no statute of limitations applicable to either of those offenses.”
Christmas v. State, 700 So. 2d 262 (Miss. 1997). “At the time the crime occurred, the applicable statute of limitations was two years under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 [1] , for *265 the crime of fondling [2] , Miss.”
Crawford v. State, 754 So. 2d 1211 (Miss. 2000). “Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (Supp.1999) provides that the ".”
Caston v. State, 823 So. 2d 473 (Miss. 2002). “See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (2000). Accordingly, the brothers analyze the "oppressive delay" under the due process clauses of the United States and Mississippi Constitutions.”
Hosan M. Azomani v. State of Mississippi, 222 So. 3d 282 (Miss. 2017). “Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (Rev. 2015). Dr.”
Morris v. State, 595 So. 2d 840 (Miss. 1991). “He appeals, raising three issues: (1) vagueness of indictment; (2) refusal of continuance because of inadequate time for counsel to prepare his defense; and (3) Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (1972), bar of statute of limitations.”
Moffett v. State, 49 So. 3d 1073 (Miss. 2010). “Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (Rev.2007). Moffett concedes that numerous offenses are exempted from the two-year rule and are not subject to any statute of limitations.”
Norman v. State, 381 So. 2d 1024 (Miss. 1980). “The trial court erred in overruling appellant's plea in bar based upon the Mississippi statute of limitations, Section 99-1-5, Mississippi Code of 1972.”
Allen v. State, 960 So. 2d 489 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (Rev.2000). ¶ 5. On March 29, 2004, the circuit judge entered an order amending the indictment.”
Edmondson v. State, 17 So. 3d 591 (Miss. Ct. App. 2009). “Whether Edmondson’s sentence for the 1994 conviction was in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-1-5. ¶ 11. Edmondson argues that he should not have been sentenced since Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-1-5 (Rev.”
State v. Woodall, 744 So. 2d 747 (Miss. 1999). “Woodall alleges the state did not commence prosecution against him within the two-year time period required by then applicable Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (1994): A person shall not be prosecuted for any offense, with the exception of murder, manslaughter, arson, burglary, forgery,…”
Matthew Blake Courtney v. State of Mississippi, 275 So. 3d 1032 (Miss. 2019). “Courtney argues that, because he was not arrested for sexual battery until July 8, 2015, a date two years and eight months after the crime on November 2, 2012, the State was barred from prosecuting him.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5(2) — 1 case
Beth Ann White v. State of Mississippi (Miss. Ct. App. 2026).
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