Statute of Limitations for Class D / 4th Degree Felony in Maine

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 Maine, the statute of limitations (SOL) sets a deadline for the State to commence a criminal prosecution. For a Class D / 4th degree felony, Maine applies the general/default SOL rule found in Title 17-A, § 8. Per your brief, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found for this category, so the general rule governs rather than a specialized exception.

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator can help you convert “time rules” into a concrete date window (for example, “filed/commenced by” dates), using the date you provide as the case’s key starting point.

Note: This page describes the general SOL under 17-A, § 8 for the offense category you specified. If additional facts exist (such as a tolling event), the computed deadline may change.

Limitation period

What the general rule sets

Maine’s general SOL for criminal actions in Title 17-A, § 8 provides a default limitations period of 0.5 years for the prosecution of offenses covered by the statute’s general framework.

For your requested offense category (Class D / 4th degree felony), the practical takeaway is:

Default limitations period: 6 months (because 0.5 years = 6 months)

What “0.5 years” means in practice

A half-year rule often causes confusion because people think in exact day counts. DocketMath addresses this by performing a calendar-based calculation consistent with how the tool models a “6-month” window (rather than asking you to manually convert years into days).

To use the rule effectively, you need to identify the relevant starting date—commonly:

the date of the alleged offense, or
another date that law enforcement/prosecutors treat as the operative “commencement” anchor for SOL purposes.

Because SOL timing is fact-driven, treat the calculator as a way to systematize dates, not as a substitute for case-specific legal review.

Basic workflow (how the clock is used)

Use this checklist to drive the inputs:

Key exceptions

Maine SOL calculations can change when an exception applies. Even if you’re starting from the “general/default” period, you should still run an exception screen.

Common SOL-moving factors to look for

These are not automatically present in every case—think of them as a factual audit:

Tolling events: Events that pause the running of the limitations clock.
Defendant absence or unavailability: Some systems toll SOL where a defendant cannot be served or is otherwise unavailable (the details matter and must be checked against the statute).
Statutory carve-outs: Certain offenses or circumstances may receive different treatment than the general rule.

Warning: A calculator can model the general rule accurately, but SOL outcomes can change if a statutory tolling provision applies. If your timeline includes service problems, concealment, or other delay-causing events, you should incorporate that into the inputs (or at minimum review whether DocketMath’s exception toggles match your facts).

How exceptions affect the output

When a tolling/exception applies, the effect is usually one of the following:

Extension: the “last permissible date” moves later.
Paused clock: the limitation period effectively gets extra time, because some days do not count.
Different anchor date: the starting date used for counting might shift.

In DocketMath, this typically shows up as:

a later “deadline” date, or
a wider date window between “earliest relevant” and “latest permissible” dates (depending on how you set the starting point and the tool’s configuration).

Statute citation

The general SOL rule used for the specified offense category is:

Maine Criminal Code, Title 17-A, § 8
https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/17-a/title17-asec8.html?utm_source=openai

Per your brief’s constraints, the applicable period for the general/default SOL is:

General SOL Period: 0.5 years
(equivalent to 6 months)
General Statute: Title 17-A, § 8

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator turns the SOL rule into concrete dates so you can evaluate timeliness quickly.

Primary CTA: /tools/statute-of-limitations

Inputs to expect (and how they change results)

Input you provide	What it represents	How the output changes
Starting date (e.g., offense date)	When the limitations “clock” begins counting	Shifts the computed “last permissible” date
Whether to account for exception/tolling factors	Whether an exception changes the clock	Can extend the deadline or pause the count
Prosecution commencement date (optional, if included)	When charges were commenced/declared	Lets you compare “filed/commenced by” vs. the computed SOL deadline

Example of what to look for in the output

After you enter your dates, the tool typically produces:

a computed SOL deadline based on the general 0.5-year (6-month) rule, and
(if exceptions are enabled/selected) an adjusted deadline.

Use that deadline to check whether a prosecution date falls within the allowed period.

Practical timing workflow (fast and actionable)

Pitfall: Using the wrong starting date is the most common way SOL calculations drift. Two dates that look similar in a case file—like “incident date” vs. “report date”—can yield materially different SOL deadlines.