Statute of Limitations for Class B / 2nd Degree Felony in Illinois

5 min read

Published March 22, 2026 • By DocketMath Team

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently — verify all citations with current official sources.

Overview

In Illinois, the statute of limitations (SOL) sets a deadline for the State to file criminal charges after an alleged offense. For a Class B felony, Illinois uses a default, general limitation period unless a specific exception applies.

For this topic—Class B / 2nd degree felony in Illinois—the key starting point is the general SOL rule in 720 ILCS 5/3-6. DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator uses that general/default SOL period when no claim-type-specific sub-rule is found for the specific felony category you’re entering.

Note: This page focuses on Illinois’s general SOL rule for felony prosecutions. If an exception or tolling event occurred, the applicable deadline can move later.

Limitation period

Default rule for Class B (general/default)

Illinois provides a 5-year SOL for the general category of felony offenses covered by 720 ILCS 5/3-6. Based on the jurisdiction data provided, and because no class-specific sub-rule was identified, this 5-year period functions as the default limitation period for the Class B / 2nd degree felony scenario described here.

General SOL period: 5 years

In practice, you’ll typically calculate the deadline using:

Date of the offense (often treated as the key “start” date for timing), and
5 years added to that date, subject to any exceptions that extend or toll the deadline.

How the SOL deadline changes with timing

A SOL calculation usually turns on two date-related inputs:

Offense date
- Earlier offense dates produce earlier SOL deadlines.
- Later offense dates push the deadline later.
**Event dates (only if relevant)
- Certain events can toll (pause) or extend the running of the SOL.
- If you know an exception may apply, the “final answer” from the calculator should be treated as a baseline until you account for those events.

To keep your work organized, many people compute:

Baseline SOL deadline = offense date + 5 years
Then, if applicable, adjust for tolling/exception events.

Quick example (baseline only)

Offense date: March 1, 2020
Default SOL period: 5 years
Baseline deadline: March 1, 2025

If a tolling exception applies, the deadline could be later than the baseline date—sometimes by months, sometimes longer, depending on the statutory basis.

Key exceptions

Illinois law recognizes situations where the SOL period may be affected. Because this page is built around the general/default rule and does not identify a class-specific sub-rule, you should treat exceptions as the main reason the timeline could differ from “5 years.”

Common categories of exceptions/timing impacts can include:

Tolling due to certain circumstances (for example, when statutory conditions pause the clock)
Procedural events that affect whether limitations has run (depending on the statutory mechanism)
Computation mechanics (how Illinois counts time under its rules)

Pitfall: Don’t assume the “5 years” answer is automatically final. If there’s evidence of tolling—such as the defendant being absent in a way recognized by statute, or other statutory triggers—the SOL deadline may extend beyond the simple “offense date + 5 years” calculation.

What to check before relying on a baseline

Use this checklist to sanity-check whether you need to investigate beyond the default rule:

If your case file indicates an exception might be implicated, a baseline calculation is still useful—but you’ll want to incorporate the exception-specific timing rules.

Statute citation

The default statute of limitations period for this analysis is drawn from:

720 ILCS 5/3-6
(Illinois General Statutes—statute of limitations for certain offenses)

The jurisdiction data provided for this page identifies the general/default SOL period as 5 years under 720 ILCS 5/3-6 (source: ILGA Public Acts link):

https://ilga.gov/ftp/Public%20Acts/101/101-0130.htm?utm_source=openai

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations tool can convert dates into an estimated SOL deadline using the default 5-year period from 720 ILCS 5/3-6 for this scenario.

To use it:

Open the calculator: **/tools/statute-of-limitations
Enter the offense date (the date the alleged conduct occurred).
Use the tool’s output as a baseline SOL deadline under the general rule.
If you suspect an exception applies, treat the calculator result as a starting point and verify whether the exception changes the clock.

Inputs and outputs (what to expect)

Input you provide	What it drives	What changes if you change it
Offense date	The start of the SOL timeline	Later offense dates push the deadline later; earlier dates move it earlier
No exception details	The tool applies the general/default rule	If an exception actually applies, the real deadline may be later than the baseline

Warning: If the case involves a potential tolling/exception event, using the baseline-only calculation can produce an answer that looks “wrong” compared to case-specific timing. Use the tool for the baseline and then incorporate exception timing where applicable.

If you want the most accurate computation for your situation, gather:

the precise offense date, and
any known dates tied to tolling or statutory triggers (if they’re documented).