How Long Do You Have to File a Police Misconduct Claim in California? Every Deadline, Every Exception.

How Long Do You Have to File a Police Misconduct Claim in California?

Two deadlines apply. First: a government tort claim under California Government Code § 911.2 must be filed with the city, county, or public agency within six months of the incident — before you can sue at all. Miss this and your state law claims are permanently barred. Second: federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 have a two-year statute of limitations under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. The six-month deadline is the one that destroys more cases than any other single factor in California police misconduct litigation.

Free case evaluation: (949) 474-1849  |  Available 24 hours  |  jerry@steeringlaw.com

The News I Have Had to Deliver Too Many Times

I have had to deliver heartbreaking news to too many clients: “I believe you were wronged, but we cannot file your case because the deadline has passed.”

The evidence was there. The injuries were documented. The misconduct was clear. And none of it mattered, because the clock ran out before the client called me.

In California, police misconduct claims involve multiple overlapping deadlines — some as short as six months from the date of the incident. Statutes of limitations are not technicalities. They are the firm, unforgiving cutoff after which your right to sue is gone forever, regardless of how strong your evidence, how severe your injuries, or how egregious the misconduct.

I have been litigating police misconduct cases in California courts since 1984 — Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, and beyond. Here is everything you need to know about the deadlines that control your right to sue — and the limited exceptions that may apply.

“The evidence was there. The injuries were documented. The misconduct was clear. None of it mattered because the clock ran out. That is the most preventable tragedy in civil rights law.”

Every Deadline at a Glance — The Complete Reference Table

Before diving into the details, here is the complete reference guide. Bookmark this. Print it. Share it with anyone you know who was recently injured by police.

Claim type	Deadline	When clock starts	Critical notes
Government tort claim (California Gov. Code § 911.2)	6 months	Date of incident	MANDATORY before suing any California city, county, or public entity. Miss this and your state law claims are barred forever — regardless of how strong the case is.
Filing suit after claim denial (California Gov. Code § 945.6)	6 months	Date rejection notice is mailed	After your government tort claim is denied, you have 6 months from the date the rejection is mailed — not received — to file your lawsuit.
Filing suit if entity fails to respond (California Gov. Code § 945.6)	2 years	Date of incident	If the public entity never sends a written denial, you have 2 years from the accrual of the cause of action to file suit.
Federal § 1983 civil rights claim (Cal. CCP § 335.1 / Wilson v. Garcia)	2 years	Date claim accrues (usually date of incident)	Federal civil rights claims use California’s personal injury statute of limitations. Clock starts when you knew or should have known of the injury.
California state personal injury claims (Cal. CCP § 335.1)	2 years	Date of incident	Applies to assault, battery, negligence, false imprisonment claims — but only after complying with the Government Claims Act for public entity defendants.
Bivens claims (federal officers) (Cal. CCP § 335.1 applied by analogy)	2 years	Date claim accrues	Claims against federal agents (FBI, Border Patrol, DEA) — no government claim requirement, but Bivens itself is increasingly limited post-Egbert v. Boule (2022).
Wrongful death (Cal. CCP § 335.1 / Gov. Code § 911.2)	2 years / 6 mo.	Date of death	The 2-year SOL runs from the date of death for the survival action. The 6-month government tort claim still applies to any public entity defendants.

The most important row in the table: the six-month government tort claim deadline. It is shorter than almost every other deadline in civil litigation. It is mandatory before suing any California city, county, or public agency. And it runs from the date of the incident — not the date you decide to pursue a case.

The Six-Month Government Tort Claim — The Deadline That Ends More Cases Than Any Other

Under the California Government Claims Act — California Government Code § 900 et seq. — anyone seeking to sue a California public entity (city, county, police department, public agency) or a public employee acting within the scope of employment must first file an administrative government tort claim with that entity. This requirement is mandatory. There is no way around it. Under California Government Code § 911.2, the deadline to file this claim is six months from the date of the incident.

The Six-Month Government Tort Claim Deadline Six months from the date of the incident. Not six months from when you feel better. Not six months from when your criminal case resolves. Not six months from when you decide you want to sue. Six months from the day it happened.   This deadline applies to claims against cities, counties, police departments, sheriffs, and individual officers acting within the scope of their employment.   If you miss this deadline, your state law claims are barred permanently. No exceptions for ignorance of the deadline. No judicial discretion to waive it. No equitable relief except in the narrowest circumstances. I have seen strong cases with clear liability, documented injuries, and video evidence go nowhere because the victim called me at month seven instead of month one.   Call a civil rights attorney immediately — not when you feel ready, not after the criminal case, not after you have figured out what you want to do. Now.

The Government Claims Act Process — Step by Step

Here is exactly how the process works after an incident:

• You file the government tort claim with the relevant public entity — the city, county, or agency — within six months of the incident. The claim must describe the incident, the nature of the claim, the damages sought, and your contact information.
• The public entity has 45 days to respond. They can grant the claim (rare), deny it (common), or allow it to sit without action.
• If denied, you have six months from the mailing of the rejection notice to file your lawsuit in court. Under California Government Code § 945.6, the clock runs from the date the notice is deposited in the mail — not the date you receive it. California courts have charged claimants with knowledge of this rule.
• If the entity never responds and sends no written denial, you have two years from the accrual of the cause of action to file suit under Government Code § 945.6.

The January 15 Example — Walking Through the Timeline

Let me make this concrete with a typical scenario I see in my practice:

A Real Deadline Timeline January 15: You are subjected to excessive force during a traffic stop in Los Angeles County. July 14: Six-month government tort claim deadline. If you have not filed your claim by today, your state law claims are barred. July 1: You filed your claim on July 1 — two weeks before the deadline. Smart. July 1 + 45 days = August 15: The county must respond by this date. If it denies your claim and mails you a rejection notice on August 15… February 15 (6 months from August 15): Deadline to file your lawsuit in court. Miss this and your state law claims are gone. January 15 (2 years from incident): Federal § 1983 deadline — but only if you complied with the government tort claim requirement for the state law claims.   The danger zone: Many people confuse the two-year § 1983 deadline with the total time they have. They assume they have two years for everything. They do not. The six-month government tort claim is the threshold you must cross before the two-year period even becomes relevant.

Federal § 1983 Claims — Two Years, But With Important Caveats

For claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, California applies its two-year personal injury statute of limitations under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, as established by Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261 (1985). This two-year period applies to:

• Excessive force — police brutality, unjustified shootings, tasings, use of restraints
• False arrest and wrongful detention without probable cause or reasonable suspicion
• Illegal searches and seizures without warrant, probable cause, or valid consent
• First Amendment retaliation — arrests for recording police, criticizing officers, or exercising protected speech
• Malicious prosecution — criminal charges filed without probable cause and resolved in your favor

When does the two-year clock start? Federal law determines when a § 1983 claim accrues. The general rule: the claim accrues when the plaintiff knows, or through reasonable diligence should know, of the injury that forms the basis of the action. For most police misconduct incidents, the accrual date is the date of the incident itself — because the injury is immediate and obvious.

The key caveat: the two-year federal deadline and the six-month state government tort claim deadline are not alternatives. They run simultaneously. You can be within your two-year window for the federal claim and still be permanently barred from state law claims because you missed the six-month government tort deadline. Both must be managed.

When Criminal Charges Are Pending — The Heck Complication

Many people who contact my office after a police misconduct incident are also facing criminal charges arising from the same incident — typically PC 148(a)(1) or PC 69 resistance charges. This creates the Heck v. Humphrey complication I have discussed in previous articles.

Under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), a § 1983 civil rights claim is barred if it would necessarily imply the invalidity of a prior criminal conviction. A conviction for resisting the arrest you are claiming was unlawful can bar the civil rights claim. This has direct implications for timing:

What Heck Means for Your Deadline Strategy The criminal case does not pause the clock. The statute of limitations continues to run while criminal charges are pending. You cannot simply wait for the criminal case to resolve before thinking about the civil case. By the time a criminal case goes to trial, you may have missed the six-month government tort claim deadline entirely.   A conviction closes the door. If you are convicted or take a plea to a resistance charge, the Heck bar may permanently preclude the civil rights lawsuit — regardless of how much time remains on the statute of limitations.   The right strategy: consult a civil rights attorney immediately after the incident — before you make any decisions about the criminal case and before the six-month deadline runs. The criminal defense strategy and the civil rights strategy must be coordinated from the beginning.   See my articles on the Contempt of Cop mechanism and the resistance charge trap for the full analysis.

Exceptions and Tolling — The Limited Circumstances When the Clock Pauses

The deadlines are strict. The exceptions are narrow. I want to be direct about this because I have watched too many clients lose cases they thought would be saved by tolling. Here is an honest assessment of each exception.

Tolling ground	When it applies	What you actually need to know
Delayed discovery (discovery rule)	The injury or its cause was not reasonably discoverable at the time of the incident	Narrowly applied. Courts require that both the injury and its connection to the defendant were not discoverable through reasonable diligence. Psychological trauma may qualify; physical injuries from a beating almost never do.
Minority (plaintiff was under 18)	The plaintiff was a minor at the time the cause of action accrued	For federal § 1983 claims, the statute is tolled until the plaintiff turns 18. However, the six-month government tort claim deadline may still apply — minors are not automatically exempt from the Government Claims Act.
Imprisonment tolling (CCP § 352.1)	The plaintiff was imprisoned on a criminal charge when the cause of action accrued	Tolls the federal § 1983 statute for up to 2 additional years. Ends on release. Death ends tolling entirely. Does not toll the government tort claim deadline.
Continuing violation doctrine	The misconduct constitutes a continuing pattern of violations rather than a single discrete act	Can extend the limitations period to the last act in the pattern. Requires showing that each act is part of a unified course of unlawful conduct — not just similar separate incidents. Rarely applies to single-incident use-of-force cases.
Equitable tolling	Plaintiff pursued a different remedy in good faith and defendant had notice of the claim	Requires three elements: timely notice to defendant, no prejudice to defendant, and reasonable good-faith conduct by plaintiff. California courts apply this narrowly. Do not count on equitable tolling to save a missed deadline — I have seen it fail in cases where clients assumed it would apply.
Defective rejection notice (Gov. Code § 912.7)	Public entity failed to include required warning about the lawsuit filing deadline in its rejection notice	If the rejection notice omits the mandatory 6-month warning, the claimant may be entitled to the 2-year period from accrual instead of 6 months from rejection. Chalmers v. County of Los Angeles (1985).

My frank assessment of equitable tolling: In forty years of California civil rights litigation, I have seen equitable tolling argued successfully in a small fraction of the cases where clients hoped it would apply. California courts are consistent: equitable tolling is not a safety net for missed deadlines. It requires specific, limited circumstances — and even then, it is litigated against defendants who have every incentive to challenge it. Do not structure your case around the assumption that equitable tolling will save you. File the government tort claim. File it early. File it correctly.

Federal Officers — Bivens Claims and Their Growing Limitations

If your claim involves a federal law enforcement officer — FBI, DEA, Border Patrol, TSA, federal marshals, or other federal agents — the claim cannot be brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which applies only to state and local actors. Instead, federal officer claims are brought under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), the Supreme Court’s judge-made analog to § 1983.

For Bivens claims in California, the two-year personal injury statute of limitations under California CCP § 335.1 applies by analogy. There is no government tort claim requirement for federal defendants — the California Government Claims Act applies only to California public entities.

The Critical 2022 Update — Egbert v. Boule In Egbert v. Boule, 596 U.S. 482 (2022), the Supreme Court significantly restricted the availability of Bivens claims, holding that courts should not recognize new categories of Bivens actions unless the case is virtually identical to one of the three original Bivens contexts.   The practical effect: excessive force claims against federal officers may still proceed under the original Bivens context (Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure), but claims in novel contexts — new constitutional rights, new types of conduct, new agency contexts — face serious obstacles.   If your misconduct involved federal agents rather than state or local police, the viability of a Bivens claim depends heavily on how closely the facts match prior recognized Bivens contexts. This requires analysis by an attorney with federal civil rights litigation experience.

Why Waiting Is Dangerous Even Within the Deadline Window

Having two years for the federal claim does not mean waiting two years is safe. Even within the deadline window, delay costs cases. I cover the complete evidence preservation framework in ourstep-by-step guide to what to do immediately after police misconduct. The deadline-specific reasons not to wait:

• Body camera and dashcam footage is overwritten. Depending on department retention policies, footage may be automatically deleted in as little as 30 to 90 days without a preservation hold. A spoliation letter sent on day one protects it. Waiting until month six means it may already be gone.
• Internal investigations do not pause the clock. A pending internal affairs investigation does not toll the statute of limitations. The clock runs regardless of whether IA, a civilian review board, or a criminal investigation is ongoing. Waiting for those processes to conclude before consulting an attorney is a common and costly mistake.
• Witnesses forget — and leave. The bystander who had the clearest view and was willing to talk on day one may be difficult to locate and reluctant to testify six months later. Witness statements taken early are more credible and more useful than recollections reconstructed later.
• The department is already building its defense. From the moment of the incident, the police department’s legal machinery is in motion — interviewing officers, reviewing footage, drafting reports. The sooner you have legal representation, the sooner someone is working on your side of the case.

Has the Clock Already Started Running on Your Case? (949) 474-1849 — Available 24 Hours a Day Free Case Evaluation — No Fee Unless We Recover jerry@steeringlaw.com  |  steeringlaw.com/free-case-evaluation Law Offices of Jerry L. Steering  |  4063 Birch Street, Suite 100  |  Newport Beach, CA 92660 Suing the Police in Southern California Since 1984

What to Do Right Now — The Specific Actions With the Specific Deadlines

If you believe you were a victim of police misconduct in California, here is what to do, in sequence, with the deadlines attached:

• Call a civil rights attorney today. Not after your criminal case. Not after you decide whether you want to sue. Today. An attorney can advise you on the interplay between the criminal charges and the civil deadline, send a spoliation letter immediately, and file or prepare your government tort claim.
• Document everything before the day is out. Photographs of injuries (now and again in 24-48 hours as bruising develops), officer names and badge numbers, exact words spoken, witness contact information, nearby security cameras. See our complete evidence guide at steeringlaw.com.
• Mark the six-month deadline on your calendar right now. Count forward six months from the date of the incident. That is the absolute outer limit for filing your government tort claim. Your attorney should file it well before that date, but you need to know what the deadline is.
• Do not give a statement to Internal Affairs without your attorney. IA investigators work for the department. An IA interview does not pause any deadline and can be used against you in the civil case.
• Do not accept any criminal plea without consulting your civil rights attorney. A guilty plea to a resistance charge can close the door on the civil rights case permanently under the Heck doctrine. The criminal and civil cases must be strategized together.

Results in Cases Where the Deadline Was Met

The cases that resulted in significant recoveries for my clients all shared one thing: someone called in time.

• $2.9 million settlement, City of Anaheim — police shooting case. Government tort claim filed on time. Federal and state claims both preserved.
• $1.3 million settlement, Riverside County — excessive force and malicious prosecution. Early action allowed us to secure evidence before it was overwritten.
• $800,000 jury verdict, City of Garden Grove — false arrest. Government claim filed within weeks of the incident.
• $450,000 settlement, Riverside County — false arrest, bystander detained during warrant execution. Six-month claim filed while facts were still fully documented.
• $360,000 settlement, City of Newport Beach — false arrest. Evidence preserved through immediate spoliation letter.

Every one of these cases could have been lost on the deadline alone. None were — because the clients came to us in time. See.

Serving Southern California — Every County, Every Deadline

My firm handles police misconduct cases — and navigates these deadlines — throughout Southern California: Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, Ventura County, Kern County, and Santa Barbara County.

Every public entity in California is subject to the Government Claims Act. Every case has a six-month deadline. Every missed deadline is permanent. If you are in Southern California and believe you have a police misconduct claim, call us today — not tomorrow, not after you think about it. Today.

Frequently Asked Questions — Police Misconduct Deadlines in California

The Moment You Are Free, the Clock Starts Ticking

Time is not on your side in California police misconduct cases. Between the six-month government tort claim requirement and the two-year federal statute of limitations, the window for seeking justice is shorter than most people realize — and more unforgiving than almost any other area of civil litigation.

Do not assume you have plenty of time. Do not wait for an internal investigation to conclude. Do not wait until your criminal case is resolved to learn your rights. Do not wait until you have made up your mind about whether you want to sue.

The moment you are free, the clock starts ticking. Call.

Fight back. Vindication is the goal.

Call for a Free Case Evaluation — Available 24 Hours (949) 474-1849 jerry@steeringlaw.com  |  steeringlaw.com/free-case-evaluation Law Offices of Jerry L. Steering 4063 Birch Street, Suite 100, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Suing the Police in Southern California Since 1984

About the Author — Jerry L. Steering

Jerry L. Steering is a civil rights attorney and police misconduct specialist who has been suing the police in California since 1984. His practice covers excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, unlawful detention, and civil rights violations — both the criminal defense of the charges that accompany these incidents and the § 1983 civil rights lawsuits against the officers and municipalities responsible. He has litigated cases in federal and state courts throughout Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, and the rest of Southern California. Notable results include a $2.9 million settlement against the City of Anaheim, a $1.3 million settlement against Riverside County, an $800,000 jury verdict against the City of Garden Grove, a $450,000 recovery for a Riverside County false arrest, and a $360,000 settlement against the City of Newport Beach. He has appeared on NBC Dateline with Lester Holt and ABC Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. View

Law Offices of Jerry L. Steering  |  4063 Birch Street, Suite 100, Newport Beach, CA 92660  |  (949) 474-1849  |  Available 24 Hours  |  jerry@steeringlaw.com

Legal citations and primary sources:

• California Government Code § 911.2 — Six-month government tort claim deadline  |  leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• California Government Code § 945.6 — Lawsuit filing deadline after government claim rejection  |  leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 — Two-year personal injury statute of limitations  |  leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• 42 U.S.C. § 1983 — Federal civil rights statute  |  law.cornell.edu
• California Code of Civil Procedure § 352.1 — Tolling for imprisonment  |  leginfo.legislature.ca.gov