Have there been recent federal or state law changes extending or eliminating SOL for child sex abuse?

1. The federal floor: incentives and a national shift in rhetoric

At the federal level, Congress has taken steps to encourage states to remove civil and criminal limits for child sexual abuse by introducing legislation that would incentivize states to eliminate SOLs and revive time‑barred claims, signaling a national policy push though not an outright federal preemption of state limits (H.R.2920) ^[3]. Separate reporting marks earlier federal action removing the civil SOL for certain federal causes of action, reflecting a broader federal alignment with survivor‑centered reform ^[6].

2. California: abolition for recent abuse and revival windows for earlier claims

California stands out as a template: the state has abolished the civil SOL for childhood sexual abuse that occurred on or after January 1, 2024, allowing those survivors to sue at any time, while also creating revival or look‑back mechanisms for certain earlier periods and temporary windows for claims that were previously time‑barred (Assembly Bill reforms and Section 340.1) ^{[1] [7] [8]}. The state’s reforms combine permanent elimination for new incidents with temporary revival windows for older claims, a model other states have either copied or adapted ^{[1] [7]}.

3. States eliminating or suspending limits: a growing but uneven map

Several states have enacted sweeping changes: Louisiana eliminated the SOL for child sexual abuse and extended a look‑back window, with its Supreme Court upholding the change’s constitutionality, while Nevada had already eliminated its CSA SOL retroactively in 2021 ^{[2] [9]}. Mississippi temporarily suspended civil SOLs for childhood sexual abuse from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2027, and Washington set no time limit for civil suits for abuse occurring on or after June 6, 2024, demonstrating a mix of permanent repeal and time‑limited suspensions across the country ^[9].

4. Look‑back windows, age extensions and targeted eliminations

Beyond abolition, many reforms lengthen filing ages or open revival windows: Arkansas and other states have created look‑back periods or raised the age cap (for example, Arkansas extended certain windows and removed a prior age limit), and some states have tailored criminal SOL elimination to specific offenses — Indiana’s 2024 amendment eliminated the statute of limitations for certain felony child‑sexual‑offense categories while addressing DNA‑based exceptions ^{[10] [11]}. The result is complex: in many jurisdictions the applicable deadline still depends on the date of last abuse, the victim’s age at discovery, or whether the law was applied retroactively ^{[10] [8]}.

5. Who’s driving reform — advocates, survivors, and political tradeoffs

Child‑abuse advocacy groups such as CHILD USA have led data collection and legislative advocacy, tracking bills nationwide and pressing for reforms rooted in research on delayed disclosure; these organizations explicitly lobby for elimination or extension of SOLs as a matter of justice and public health ^{[4] [12]}. At the same time, critics and opponents—often institutions facing increased liability—have raised constitutional and fiscal objections, producing litigation and legislative compromises such as time‑limited revival windows rather than full retroactive eliminations ^{[2] [5]}.

6. The practical takeaway: dramatic progress, but a fragmented legal landscape

The last several years show clear momentum: multiple states have eliminated SOLs for at least some child sexual‑abuse claims, many have opened revival windows, and the federal government has signaled support and offered incentives for broader reform ^{[1] [2] [3]}. However, these changes are neither uniform nor universal—whether a survivor can sue, when, and against whom still depends heavily on the state, the date of abuse, and whether a revival window applies—creating a complex, jurisdictional patchwork rather than a single nationwide rule ^{[13] [5] [8]}.