Statute of Limitations for a DUI in Arizona: How Long? ARS 13-107

What Is the Statute of Limitations for a DUI in Arizona?

One year for a misdemeanor DUI, seven years for a felony aggravated DUI, and two years for a DUI involving a collision that caused serious physical injury or death. The general rule is A.R.S. § 13-107(B): prosecutions must be commenced within one year for a misdemeanor and seven years for a Class 2 through Class 6 felony, measured from the State’s actual discovery of the offense or the date it should have discovered it with reasonable diligence. Subsection (C) defines “commenced” as the filing of an indictment, information, or complaint. The DUI statutes then add their own rule: A.R.S. § 28-1381(Q) and A.R.S. § 28-1382(J) give the State two years when the DUI involved a collision with serious physical injury or death identified in a written accident report.

In practice the clock starts at the arrest, because that is when the State discovered the offense. A misdemeanor DUI arrest in Scottsdale on March 1 must be charged by the following March 1; an aggravated DUI has until seven years later. The State does not have to convict within that time, only to file.

Do Late Blood Test Results Extend the DUI Statute of Limitations?

No. The one-year period runs from discovery of the offense, and the State discovered the offense when it made the arrest, not when the laboratory reported the number. A blood sample that takes months to come back consumes the State’s year; it does not pause it. This is the answer to the most searched version of the question, “statute of limitations Arizona DUI test results,” and it is why misdemeanor DUI complaints are so often filed by summons in the final weeks before the anniversary of the arrest. Our guide to being arrested for DUI but not charged covers what happens in that gap.

When the Clock Stops

• Leaving the state. Under A.R.S. § 13-107(D), the period does not run during any time the accused is absent from Arizona or has no reasonably ascertainable residence in it. A student who returns home out of state, or a visitor arrested on vacation, can find the clock paused for the entire time away.
• A dismissed complaint. Under subsection (G), if a complaint filed within the period is later dismissed for any reason, the State may refile within six months after the dismissal becomes final, even if the original period has expired. A dismissal “without prejudice” early in a case is a pause, not an ending.
• A filed case. Once the complaint is filed, the statute of limitations is satisfied. Delay after that point is governed by the speedy-trial rules of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, a different set of deadlines with different remedies.

What Happens If the Statute of Limitations Expires?

If no complaint, information, or indictment was filed within the period and no tolling applies, the State cannot prosecute the DUI. The limitation is a bar to prosecution that the defense raises by motion to dismiss; it is not applied automatically, and a charge filed late will proceed until someone points it out. The arrest record remains until sealed: A.R.S. § 13-911(A)(3) allows a petition to seal an arrest where no charges were filed, so an expired DUI limitation period is also the trigger for cleaning up the record it left behind. A charge that was filed on time but dismissed can likewise be sealed under 13-911(A)(2).

How Tamou Law Group Uses the Limitation Period

On an uncharged arrest we calendar the period, track filings across every court that could receive the case, protect the MVD hearing that runs on its own clock, and use the pre-charge window to retest blood and present the case to the charging prosecutor. On a charge that arrives late, we move to dismiss on limitation grounds and verify tolling before the State claims it. When the period expires with no filing, we petition to seal the arrest under 13-911. Members of the National College for DUI Defense, in every Maricopa County court.

Related guides: DUI license suspension in Arizona, getting DUI charges dropped, the statute of limitations for sex crimes, and our Arizona DUI charges hub. Call 623-321-4699, 24/7.