Utah at a glance
Rules, not your dateChild sexual abuse: the civil deadline
No deadline against the abuser. Against other individuals who share criminal responsibility or, as family or household members, negligently permitted the abuse: 4 years after age 18 or after adult discovery, whichever is later. Claims against organizations follow general periods. The rule is in Utah Code § 78B-2-308(3), (6).
That is the deadline for a civil lawsuit, a claim for money damages. A criminal prosecution runs on a separate clock set by the state’s criminal code, and a report to police can be made whether or not a civil claim is still open. How the two differ.
Adult sexual assault: the civil deadline
4 years (catch-all period). No adult sexual assault provision found. The rule is in Utah Code § 78B-2-307(4).
Revival and lookback windows
Utah has not enacted a window that revives sexual abuse claims whose deadline had already passed.
A revival window, sometimes called a lookback window, lets survivors file claims that had already expired, for a set period. Closed windows stay listed here with their dates, because a claim filed while one was open may still be moving through the courts. Every state’s window, side by side.
Claims against public entities
Notice of claim within 1 year after the claim arises. No sexual abuse exemption appears in the sections read. See Utah Code §§ 63G-7-401, 63G-7-402.
A claim against a public body often needs a written notice filed with that body first, and the notice period can be far shorter than the deadline for the lawsuit itself.
Active lawsuits and institutions in Utah
- Juvenile facility sexual abuse lawsuits, state by state: Juvenile facility abuse cases in this state
The deadlines described here are general rules, and most of them have exceptions. The date that governs a particular claim turns on the state, the person’s age when the abuse happened, when they connected it to the harm it caused, and who the defendant is. A claim against a public agency or a public school can carry a written notice requirement that runs out long before the ordinary deadline.
Nothing on this page can tell you your own date. A lawyer who looks at your facts can, and there is no charge to ask.
- Utah Code § 78B-2-308(3), (6) (childhood claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- Utah Code § 78B-2-307(4) (adult claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- Utah Code § 78B-2-308(7) (2016 H.B. 279); held unconstitutional, Mitchell v. Roberts, 2020 UT 34 (revival window). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- Utah Code §§ 63G-7-401, 63G-7-402 (notice to public entities). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- CHILD USA, statute of limitations research (used as a cross-check, not as the source of any rule above).
