Statute of limitations for DUI in Ohio

Rule or statute summary

In Ohio, the general statute of limitations (SOL) for criminal offenses is governed by Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.13. For DUI cases in Ohio (often charged as “OVI,” including driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs), the materials reviewed for this brief did not identify a separate, DUI-specific SOL provision. That means the general/default SOL rule in § 2901.13 applies.

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator uses that general SOL period to compute a deadline date based on key timeline dates in a case.

What this means in practice (high-level)

• When reviewing an Ohio DUI/OVI matter, you can start with the assumption that § 2901.13’s general SOL is the baseline period.
• The deadline the calculator produces is designed to help you screen timelines: whether a prosecution step appears to fall within or outside the general limitations window.
• The exact “start” date for limitations analysis can involve case-specific procedural details (for example, which offense date and which charging/prosecution event date is used). The tool helps you standardize that screening based on the dates you enter, but real outcomes can vary.

Citations

Use these sources to confirm the authoritative text before finalizing the calculation.

• Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.07

If an assumption is uncertain, document it alongside the calculation so the result can be re-run later.

Capture the source for each input so another team member can verify the same result quickly.

General Ohio SOL framework: Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.13

For this brief’s calculator baseline, the SOL inputs are:

• General SOL Period: 0.5 years
• General Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.13
• Source (Ohio statutory text): https://codes.ohio.gov/assets/laws/revised-code/authenticated/29/2901/2901.13/7-16-2015/2901.13-7-16-2015.pdf

How this applies to DUI/OVI (no separate DUI rule found)

Per the brief instructions, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found for DUI/OVI in the materials reviewed. Therefore:

• The calculator is driven by the general/default period in § 2901.13, not a special DUI-specific subsection.

Practical disclaimer (non-advice)

SOL issues can turn on details such as the precise charge, the offense date, and when relevant prosecution steps occurred. Treat the calculated deadline as a structured screening reference, not a final legal conclusion.

Use the calculator

Use DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations tool to translate the 0.5-year general SOL period from § 2901.13 into a concrete deadline.

Run the Statute Of Limitations calculation in DocketMath, then save the output so it can be audited later: Open the calculator.

Inputs to use (what to enter)

To run the calculator, you’ll typically provide:

• Offense date (the DUI/OVI incident date)
• A comparison date (commonly, the charge filing date or another prosecution-relevant date you want to test against the SOL period)

Depending on how the tool is configured, you may see an option for a “latest eligible” or similar deadline based on the general SOL period. The key idea is the same: the output is anchored to the dates you supply.

Output you should expect

With the brief’s General SOL Period = 0.5 years, the calculator will generally produce a deadline that is about half a year from the relevant start date used in the tool.

Use the deadline this way:

• If the prosecution step you’re checking occurred after the computed SOL deadline, it may fall outside the general/default SOL window under § 2901.13.
• If it occurred before the computed SOL deadline, it may fall within the general/default SOL window.

How the output changes with different dates

Try “what-if” timeline checks:

• Move the offense date later: the computed SOL deadline generally moves later too (because the start point shifts).
• Move the filing/comparison date earlier: the situation is more likely to appear within the deadline.
• Move the filing/comparison date later: the situation is more likely to appear outside the deadline.

Open the tool

For fast access, open the calculator here: /tools/statute-of-limitations.

Related reading

• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Vermont — How to choose the right calculator
• Statute of limitations in Singapore: how to estimate the deadline — Full how-to guide with jurisdiction-specific rules
• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Connecticut — How to choose the right calculator