Statute of limitations for sexual assault in Wisconsin

Rule or statute summary

In Wisconsin, the statute of limitations (SOL) for bringing a criminal case is generally 6 years for most offenses covered by Wisconsin’s general SOL rule. In this DocketMath snapshot, the statute-of-limitations calculator is set to that default/general period because we did not find a shorter/longer claim-type-specific sub-rule for “sexual assault” in the jurisdiction data provided.

What we found (and what we didn’t)

• General SOL period (default): 6 years
• General statute: **Wis. Stat. § 939.74(1)
• Finding status: No claim-type-specific sub-rule was found that would replace the general rule specifically for “sexual assault.”

Important context: “Sexual assault” can be charged under multiple different Wisconsin statutory offenses. This page treats “sexual assault” as a topic umbrella, but the calculator snapshot is anchored to the general criminal SOL rule in Wis. Stat. § 939.74(1) because no offense/claim-specific SOL variation was located in the provided jurisdiction data.

Practical meaning for your timeline

A statute of limitations is a deadline for when the prosecution must be started (not just a deadline for when an incident is reported). That’s why people usually ask questions like:

• “If the offense happened on date X, how late can the State start the case?”
• “If charges were filed later, is it automatically barred?”

This snapshot is best for modeling the baseline 6-year window. Whether a late filing is actually barred can depend on tolling and other procedural details, which can be fact-specific and may require a deeper legal review.

Inputs you should consider before using DocketMath

To get useful output from DocketMath, collect:

• Alleged offense date (the earliest date you believe prosecutors could allege)
• Start date definition (the date your calculator treats as when the prosecution is “started”—commonly tied to the filing/charging date)
• Any relevant procedural events you plan to account for (for example, differences between an incident date vs. a filing/charging date)

Checklist of what to confirm:

Citations

Wisconsin’s general criminal statute of limitations provides a six-year period under the rule used by the DocketMath snapshot.

• Wis. Stat. § 939.74(1) — General SOL period: 6 years
  Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/wi/crimes-ch-938-to-951/wi-st-939-74/

Practical warning (not legal advice): Wisconsin SOL timing can involve issues beyond a simple “X years after the offense.” Tolling and other procedural concepts may change deadlines. This page reports the general/default SOL period and is not a complete SOL analysis for every possible way “sexual assault” charges may be drafted.

Use the calculator

Use DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations tool to turn the 6-year default rule into a specific computed deadline.

Primary CTA: /tools/statute-of-limitations

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

How the output changes based on your inputs

Because this calculator is date-based, the results will shift predictably:

• Earlier alleged offense date → earlier SOL expiration deadline
• Later alleged offense date → later SOL expiration deadline
• Earlier prosecution start/filing date → lower risk the deadline has passed
• Later prosecution start/filing date → higher risk the deadline has passed

Suggested workflow (baseline modeling)

1. Enter the alleged offense date you expect to be treated as operative for the charge.
2. Enter the prosecution start date using the definition aligned with the calculator’s “start date” concept (commonly the filing/charging date).
3. Run the calculation using the general/default SOL rule grounded in Wis. Stat. § 939.74(1).

Sanity-check:

What you should expect to see

With the 6-year general rule, the calculator typically returns:

• A computed SOL expiration date, and
• A comparison such as whether the start date is before or after that expiration date.

If your timeline is close to the deadline, small date differences can matter. Keep your offense date and start/filing date definitions consistent with the calculator.

Pitfall to avoid: People sometimes model “time since discovery” instead of “time since the alleged offense.” This snapshot is anchored to the general SOL structure under Wis. Stat. § 939.74(1), so keep your date definitions consistent with that baseline.

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