Count a deadline
This is date math only. It can't tell you whether you're on time in your case.
Pick a deadline and a start date.
This calculator errs early, on purpose
It counts every day, weekends and holidays included, then moves a last day that falls on a weekend or a federal holiday in Rule 6(a)(6) (including the day a holiday is observed) to the next day the court is open. It does not push deadlines later for state holidays, days the President closes the government, or days the clerk's office is closed. Those can extend a deadline, but check with the clerk rather than counting on it. If you e-file, the last day ends at midnight in the court's time zone; on paper, it ends when the clerk's office closes.
How long do you have to file a § 1983 lawsuit?
Section 1983 has no deadline of its own. Federal courts borrow each state's general personal-injury period (Owens v. Okure). Federal law decides when the clock starts: usually when you knew or should have known of the injury, but some claims start later. State law can pause the clock in narrow situations.
Look up your state
We'll count the general period from this date. The real start date can differ.
Choose a state.
| State | Period | Statute | A court decision applying it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 years | Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) | Lufkin v. McCallum, 956 F.2d 1104 (11th Cir. 1992) |
| Alaska | 2 years | Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a) | DeNardo v. Murphy, 781 F.2d 1345 (9th Cir. 1986) |
| Arizona | 2 years | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542(1) | TwoRivers v. Lewis, 174 F.3d 987 (9th Cir. 1999) |
| Arkansas | 3 years | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105(3) | Miller v. Norris, 247 F.3d 736 (8th Cir. 2001) |
| California | 2 years | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1 | Jones v. Blanas, 393 F.3d 918 (9th Cir. 2004) For people in prison serving less than life, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 352.1 can pause the clock for up to 2 more years. |
| Colorado | 2 years | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102(1)(i) | Blake v. Dickason, 997 F.2d 749 (10th Cir. 1993) |
| Connecticut | 3 years | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577 | Lounsbury v. Jeffries, 25 F.3d 131 (2d Cir. 1994) |
| Delaware | 2 years | Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 8119 | McDowell v. Delaware State Police, 88 F.3d 188 (3d Cir. 1996) |
| District of Columbia | 3 years | D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8) | Singletary v. District of Columbia, 351 F.3d 519 (D.C. Cir. 2003) Older cases cite § 12-301(8). |
| Florida Check | 4 years | Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(o) | Chappell v. Rich, 340 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2003) Florida cut negligence claims to 2 years in 2023. Federal courts have kept applying 4 years to § 1983, but no decision yet squarely covers a claim that arose after March 24, 2023. Filing sooner avoids the uncertainty. |
| Georgia | 2 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 | Lovett v. Ray, 327 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2003) |
| Guam | 2 years | 7 Guam Code Ann. § 11306(a) | Quitugua v. Quitugua (9th Cir. 2026) (unpublished) |
| Hawaii | 2 years | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 | Pele Defense Fund v. Paty, 837 P.2d 1247 (Haw. 1992) |
| Idaho | 2 years | Idaho Code § 5-219(4) | Strayer v. Idaho State Patrol (9th Cir. 2022) (unpublished) |
| Illinois | 2 years | 735 ILCS 5/13-202 | Woods v. Illinois Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 710 F.3d 762 (7th Cir. 2013) |
| Indiana | 2 years | Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4(a) | Richards v. Mitcheff, 696 F.3d 635 (7th Cir. 2012) |
| Iowa | 2 years | Iowa Code § 614.1(2) | Wycoff v. Menke, 773 F.2d 983 (8th Cir. 1985) |
| Kansas | 2 years | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-513(a)(4) | Brown v. Unified Sch. Dist. 501, 465 F.3d 1184 (10th Cir. 2006) |
| Kentucky | 1 year | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140(1)(a) | Collard v. Kentucky Bd. of Nursing, 896 F.2d 179 (6th Cir. 1990) One year: among the shortest anywhere. |
| Louisiana | 2 years (claims on/after 2024-07-01); 1 year before | La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1 | Stanley v. Morgan, No. 24-30119 (5th Cir. 2024) 2 years only for claims arising after July 1, 2024. Claims that arose earlier: 1 year. |
| Maine | 6 years | Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 752 | Small v. Inhabitants of City of Belfast, 796 F.2d 544 (1st Cir. 1986) |
| Maryland | 3 years | Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 | Owens v. Baltimore City State's Attorneys Office, 767 F.3d 379 (4th Cir. 2014) |
| Massachusetts | 3 years | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A | Nieves v. McSweeney, 241 F.3d 46 (1st Cir. 2001) |
| Michigan | 3 years | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2) | Carroll v. Wilkerson, 782 F.2d 44 (6th Cir. 1986) Older cases cite a different subsection (renumbered in 2018). |
| Minnesota | 6 years | Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5) | Egerdahl v. Hibbing Cmty. Coll., 72 F.3d 615 (8th Cir. 1995) |
| Mississippi | 3 years | Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49(1) | Edmonds v. Oktibbeha County, 675 F.3d 911 (5th Cir. 2012) |
| Missouri | 5 years | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120(4) | Sulik v. Taney County, 393 F.3d 765 (8th Cir. 2005) |
| Montana No confirming case yet | 3 years | Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(1) | — Period and statute confirmed; we haven't yet confirmed a federal case applying it to § 1983. |
| Nebraska | 4 years | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207 | Bridgeman v. Nebraska State Pen, 849 F.2d 1076 (8th Cir. 1988) |
| Nevada | 2 years | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e) | Perez v. Seevers, 869 F.2d 425 (9th Cir. 1989) |
| New Hampshire | 3 years | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4(I) | McNamara v. City of Nashua, 629 F.3d 92 (1st Cir. 2011) |
| New Jersey | 2 years | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-2(a) | Dique v. N.J. State Police, 603 F.3d 181 (3d Cir. 2010) |
| New Mexico | 3 years | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-8 | Varnell v. Dora Consol. Sch. Dist., 756 F.3d 1208 (10th Cir. 2014) |
| New York | 3 years | N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5) | Pearl v. City of Long Beach, 296 F.3d 76 (2d Cir. 2002) Owens v. Okure itself came from New York and settled on 3 years. |
| North Carolina | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(5) | Tommy Davis Constr., Inc. v. Cape Fear Pub. Util. Auth., 807 F.3d 62 (4th Cir. 2015) |
| North Dakota No confirming case yet | 6 years | N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(5) | — Statute confirmed, but we haven't found a federal case applying it to § 1983, and one older decision used a 2-year statute. Filing sooner avoids the uncertainty. |
| Ohio | 2 years | Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A) | Browning v. Pendleton, 869 F.2d 989 (6th Cir. 1989) (en banc) |
| Oklahoma | 2 years | Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(3) | Meade v. Grubbs, 841 F.2d 1512 (10th Cir. 1988) |
| Oregon | 2 years | Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.110(1) | Sain v. City of Bend, 309 F.3d 1134 (9th Cir. 2002) |
| Pennsylvania | 2 years | 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524 | Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1 F.3d 176 (3d Cir. 1993) |
| Puerto Rico | 1 year | P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 9496(a) | Morales-Tañón v. P.R. Elec. Power Auth., 524 F.3d 15 (1st Cir. 2008) One year. |
| Rhode Island | 3 years | R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(b) | Paul v. City of Woonsocket, 745 A.2d 169 (R.I. 2000) |
| South Carolina | 3 years | S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5) | Brannon v. Blanton (D.S.C. 2016) |
| South Dakota | 3 years | S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-15.2 | Bell v. Fowler, 99 F.3d 262 (8th Cir. 1996) South Dakota has a statute written specifically for federal civil rights claims. |
| Tennessee | 1 year | Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(B) | Hughes v. Vanderbilt Univ., 215 F.3d 543 (6th Cir. 2000) One year: among the shortest anywhere. |
| Texas | 2 years | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) | Piotrowski v. City of Houston, 237 F.3d 567 (5th Cir. 2001) |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 2 years | V.I. Code Ann. tit. 5, § 31(5)(A) | Callwood v. Questel, 883 F.2d 272 (3d Cir. 1989) |
| Utah | 4 years | Utah Code Ann. § 78B-2-307(4) | Fratus v. DeLand, 49 F.3d 673 (10th Cir. 1995) Many opinions still cite the old subsection (3). |
| Vermont | 3 years | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 12, § 512(4) | Ekberg v. City of Burlington (D. Vt. 2009) |
| Virginia | 2 years | Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-243(A) | A Society Without a Name v. Virginia, 655 F.3d 342 (4th Cir. 2011) |
| Washington | 3 years | Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.080(2) | Boston v. Kitsap County, 852 F.3d 1182 (9th Cir. 2017) |
| West Virginia | 2 years | W. Va. Code § 55-2-12(b) | Cooper v. City of Wheeling, No. 25-1596 (4th Cir. 2026) A March 2026 appeals decision held the 2-year period applies to every West Virginia § 1983 claim. |
| Wisconsin | 3 years (claims on/after 2018-04-05); 6 years before | Wis. Stat. § 893.53 | Huber v. Anderson, 909 F.3d 201 (7th Cir. 2018) 3 years for claims that arose on or after April 5, 2018; 6 years for claims that arose before. |
| Wyoming | 4 years | Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C) | Gee v. Pacheco, 627 F.3d 1178 (10th Cir. 2010) |
Checked against each state's statute and at least one court decision, September 24, 2026. Rows marked “No confirming case yet” have a confirmed statute but no federal decision we could confirm applying it to § 1983. Where no federal appeals decision was available, we list a state supreme court or federal trial court decision. Found an error? Tell us.