Sexual Abuse · Filing Deadline Research
Sexual Abuse Revival Windows by State: 2026 Status and Law Changes
A closed deadline is not always final. Thirty states and three territories have passed laws that revive sexual abuse claims the ordinary statute of limitations had already barred, and nineteen states, the federal government and two territories have removed the civil deadline for child sexual abuse entirely. The mechanism that reopens an already-expired claim is called a revival window, and whether one is still open depends on the state.
The short answer
This page tracks which sexual abuse revival windows exist, when each one opened, and what its stated length implies about whether it is still usable in 2026. Every figure is sourced to a public record. None of it is legal advice about your own claim, and no table — including this one — can tell you whether your deadline has passed.
Three different things states have done
These get conflated constantly, including by people writing about them. They have different effects on an old claim.
- Elimination. The state removed the civil filing deadline for child sexual abuse going forward. A survivor can file at any age. This does not by itself resurrect a claim that expired before the law passed.
- Extension. The state lengthened the deadline — for example to a fixed age, or to a number of years after the survivor connects the abuse to the harm. Again, usually forward-looking.
- Revival. The state reopened claims that were already time-barred. This is the only category that helps a survivor whose deadline has passed. It comes either as a revival window with an opening and closing date, or as a permanent revival with no closing date.
A state can appear in more than one category. The practical question for someone whose abuse happened decades ago is almost always the third one.
Revival windows by state, and what their dates imply
The table lists the jurisdictions CHILD USA’s 2026 tracker identifies as having revival laws in force, with each law’s opening date and stated length as that tracker gives them. The final column is arithmetic, not a legal conclusion.
Read the final column carefully. The tracker labels these revival windows open but does not publish closing dates for most of them. Where a window has a stated length, that length has in several cases already run. A window can also be extended, tolled or narrowed by later legislation or litigation without the summary changing. Treat the final column as a prompt to check the statute, never as an answer.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Opened | Stated length | What the stated length implies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Window | 1 January 2020 | 3 years | Ran through 31 December 2022; the window itself has closed |
| New York (NYC) | Window | 1 March 2023 | 2 years | A 2-year run from that date ended in March 2025 |
| Arkansas | Window | 1 February 2024 | 2 years | A 2-year run from that date ended in February 2026 |
| Ohio | Window (Boy Scouts estate) | 12 October 2023 | 5 years | A 5-year run from that date would reach October 2028 |
| Louisiana | Window | 2021 | 3 years | A 3-year run from 2021 would already have ended |
| Alabama | Boy Scouts bankruptcy revival | 2024 | Not stated | Tied to the bankruptcy estate rather than a general window |
| Indiana | Boy Scouts bankruptcy revival | 2024 | Not stated | Tied to the bankruptcy estate rather than a general window |
| Iowa | Boy Scouts bankruptcy revival | 2024 | Not stated | Tied to the bankruptcy estate rather than a general window |
| Maine | Permanent revival | 2021 | No closing date | No expiry stated |
| Maryland | Permanent revival | 2023 | No closing date | No expiry stated |
| Vermont | Permanent revival | 2019 | No closing date | No expiry stated |
| Nevada | Permanent, specified defendants | 2021 | No closing date | Limited to the defendants the statute specifies |
| Guam | Permanent revival | 2016 | No closing date | No expiry stated |
| N. Mariana Islands | Permanent revival | 2021 | No closing date | No expiry stated |
Jurisdiction list and opening dates: CHILD USA, 2026 SOL Tracker. The final column is our own arithmetic from the dates that source publishes.
Where revival laws have been struck down
A revival law on the books is not the same as a revival law in force. Courts in two states have held their revival provisions unconstitutional, so claims cannot be brought under them: Kentucky and Utah.
Constitutional challenges to revival statutes are an active area, and other states’ laws have been challenged without being struck down. A ruling in one state says nothing about another state’s law.
Source: CHILD USA, 2026 SOL Tracker.
What changed in 2026
Iowa — civil deadline extended
Iowa H.F. 1036 extends the civil statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and human trafficking from one year to five years after the age of majority, or five years from discovery. Governor Kim Reynolds signed it on 15 May 2026 and it took effect on 1 July 2026. This is an extension, not a revival: it lengthens the clock rather than reopening claims already barred.
Source: CHILD USA, SOL Tracker Update, 29 May 2026.
Idaho — criminal deadline removed for certain felonies
Idaho House Bill 681 (2026) amends state law so that there is no statute of limitations for certain felonies. It passed the House 64–0 and the Senate 34–0, was signed by the Governor on 26 March 2026 as Session Law Chapter 191, and took effect on 1 July 2026.
This is a criminal procedure change. It governs how long prosecutors have to bring charges. It does not extend the civil deadline for a survivor’s own lawsuit, and the two should not be read together.
Source: Idaho Legislature, House Bill 681 (2026).
Utah — two 2026 enactments
CHILD USA’s 2026 tracker lists Utah S.B. 30 and H.B. 139 among the year’s enactments. S.B. 30 is titled Human Trafficking, Exploitation, and Smuggling Amendments. We have not independently verified what either bill does to civil filing deadlines, so we do not characterise their effect here. Separately, Utah’s earlier revival law was held unconstitutional, as noted above.
Primary text: Utah S.B. 30 (2026), enrolled copy.
How the two clocks run
Two independent deadlines apply to the same abuse, and they are commonly confused.
The criminal deadline governs how long the state has to prosecute. Survivors do not control it, and a prosecutor declining a case does not affect a civil claim.
The civil deadline governs how long a survivor has to sue the abuser, or an institution that enabled the abuse. This is the one that controls whether a lawsuit can be filed, and the one revival laws reopen.
Three mechanisms commonly push a civil deadline later than it first appears:
- Tolling to the age of majority. For abuse suffered as a child, the clock in most states does not begin until the survivor turns 18.
- The discovery rule. Many states start the clock when the survivor knew, or reasonably should have known, that the abuse caused their injury — which can be many years after the abuse itself.
- Claims against institutions. A claim against a school, church, employer or public body can carry different deadlines and, for public bodies, separate notice requirements that are often much shorter than the lawsuit deadline itself.
If you are not sure whether your deadline has passed
Three things are worth knowing before you conclude anything from a table, including this one.
First, the deadline that applies is usually the one in the state where the abuse happened, which may not be where you live now. Second, an expired deadline is an affirmative defence, raised by the other side rather than applied automatically, and there are occasionally grounds on which it does not apply. Third, where a public institution is involved, a notice-of-claim requirement can fall due long before the lawsuit deadline, and missing it can end a claim that was otherwise in time.
None of that is something to work out from a web page. A lawyer licensed in the relevant state can tell you which clock applies to your facts, and most will say so without charge.
Related research on this site
- Sexual abuse civil claims: survivor rights, evidence and compensation
How a civil claim works, what institutional liability requires, and privacy protections including pseudonymous filing. - Roblox settlement amounts
What the child exploitation litigation has and has not paid, and why state settlements do not reach individual children. - Uber settlement amounts
The three rideshare assault trial outcomes and the status of MDL 3084.
Sources
- CHILD USA, 2026 SOL Tracker — jurisdiction lists, opening dates, national counts, and the Kentucky and Utah constitutional rulings. Published 18 May 2026, last modified 29 August 2026.
- CHILD USA, SOL Tracker Update, 29 May 2026 — Iowa H.F. 1036 signing date, effective date and substance.
- Idaho Legislature, House Bill 681 (2026) — bill history, vote counts, Session Law Chapter 191, effective 1 July 2026.
- Utah S.B. 30 (2026), enrolled copy — primary text, cited but not characterised here.
