Theft Statute of Limitations

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio


I was wondering if anyone knows the statute of limitations concerning theft in Ohio. I know that the ORC lists the statute of limitations for a felony as being 5 years, but I seem to remember reading somewhere in the ORC that for matters of theft the victim had one year from the date that they were aware the theft occured to file charges. I can't seem to find where I read that and am hoping that someone might be able to either confirm or deny this as it could break a case wide open involving a family member.

Thanks for all your help!

Theft staute:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2913.02


The SOL's are listed here, except for felonies listed, it is 6 years to commence a prosecution. Depending on value and the element stolen, theft can be a felony or misdemeanor.


http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2901.13

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but I seem to remember reading somewhere in the ORC that for matters of theft the victim had one year from the date that they were aware the theft occured to file charges.

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This may be what you are refering to, from the SOL statute above:


(F) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the corpus delicti remains undiscovered.

I live in Ohio also. I have never read the specific case law on this section, if any, but it basically means if the person does not discover the theft happened it until X time later it "tolls" the statute.

Now this does not mean if a person has not looked through thier jewelry box for 5 years and when they do find out they were robbed the clock has been stopped for 5 years.

I think that section covers the whole RC and there is not a seperate one in any specific statute. There is certainly not one in the theft statute!

Does that help any?

It definitely helps, although it's not the answer I was hoping for :wallbang:

The former employer is claiming over 2,000 dollars missing, most of it seems to have gone missing in October of 2007, but they didn't notice until February of 2008, and they didn't file charges until November of 2008.

On top of everything else, the evidence they have creates nothing but a reasonable doubt and they have no evidence that she is the one that actually stole the money.

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Quoting dsmith471

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It definitely helps, although it's not the answer I was hoping for :wallbang:

The former employer is claiming over 2,000 dollars missing, most of it seems to have gone missing in October of 2007, but they didn't notice until February of 2008, and they didn't file charges until November of 2008.

On top of everything else, the evidence they have creates nothing but a reasonable doubt and they have no evidence that she is the one that actually stole the money.

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The discovery element has no bearing then, as the theft amount is a felony, so at minimum 6 years from Oct, 2007 even with no tolling. It has not even been 2 years.

She is entitled to a paid public defender if indigent.