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Title 52, Voting and ElectionsRelease 119-110

§30145 Period of Limitations

Title 52 › Subtitle III — Federal Campaign Finance › CHAPTER 301 — FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS › SUBCHAPTER II — GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 30145

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

People cannot be charged, tried, or punished for violating subchapter I unless the charge is brought within 5 years after the act. That 5-year limit covers violations that happened before, on, or after the law took effect. If something was a crime under subchapter I on December 31, 1974 but is not a crime under the 1974 Amendments, no new criminal case may be started for it. This does not change any case already in a U.S. court on January 1, 1975.

Full Legal Text

Title 52, §30145

Voting and Elections, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any violation of subchapter I of this chapter, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within 5 years after the date of the violation.
(b)Notwithstanding any other provision of law—
(1)the period of limitations referred to in subsection (a) shall apply with respect to violations referred to in such subsection committed before, on, or after the effective date of this section; and
(2)no criminal proceeding shall be instituted against any person for any act or omission which was a violation of any provision of subchapter I of this chapter, as in effect on December 31, 1974, if such act or omission does not constitute a violation of any such provision, as amended by the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974.
Nothing in this subsection shall affect any proceeding pending in any court of the United States on January 1, 1975.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Election Campaign Act

Amendments

of 1974, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is Pub. L. 93–433, Oct. 15, 1974, 88 Stat. 1263. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 455 of Title 2, The Congress, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–155 substituted “5 years” for “3 years”. 1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–283, § 115(f)(1), struck out references to section 608, 610, 611, 613, 614, 615, 616, and 617 of title 18. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 94–283, § 115(f)(2), struck out references to section 608, 610, 611, and 613 of title 18.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 Amendment Pub. L. 107–155, title III, § 313(b), Mar. 27, 2002, 116 Stat. 106, provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall apply to violations occurring on or after the

Effective Date

of this Act [for general

Effective Date

of Pub. L. 107–155, see section 402 of Pub. L. 107–155, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2002 Amendment;

Regulations

note under section 30101 of this title].”

Effective Date

Section effective Jan. 1, 1975, see section 410(a) of Pub. L. 93–443, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1974 Amendment note under section 30101 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

52 U.S.C. § 30145

Title 52, Voting and Elections

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110