Short answer: a police misconduct case in Los Angeles usually runs on two separate clocks. State-law claims against the City, the County, or another public entity generally require a written government claim within six months of the incident, and then a lawsuit within the time the Government Claims Act allows after the claim is rejected. Federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 need no government claim, but they generally must be filed in court within two years. Meeting one deadline does not satisfy the other. This guide explains where each clock comes from, when it starts, and how the two interact.
Why there are two clocks
Most cases arising from excessive force, a false arrest, or retaliation at a protest can be brought under two bodies of law at once. Federal law, through section 1983, allows suits against state and local officials who violate the United States Constitution. California law supplies its own claims, such as battery, negligence, false imprisonment, and the Bane Act, Civil Code section 52.1.
Each body of law has its own rules about time. The state claims are governed by the Government Claims Act, Government Code section 900 and following. The federal claims borrow a California limitations period, but not the Government Claims Act. The result is two deadlines that start on similar dates and end on different ones.
Clock one: the six-month government claim
Government Code section 911.2(a) provides that a claim "relating to a cause of action for death or for injury to person or to personal property" must be presented "not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action." Other claims have one year. Section 945.4 bars a suit for money or damages on a claim that must be presented until the claim has been presented and acted on or deemed rejected.
For most police cases, the cause of action accrues on the day of the incident. The six months then run regardless of whether a lawyer is involved, whether a police report has been written, or whether a criminal case is still open. How to prepare and file the claim with the City or County of Los Angeles is covered in How to File a Government Claim Against the City or County of Los Angeles After Police Misconduct.
The state lawsuit deadline after the claim
The claim is not the lawsuit; it starts a second stage with its own deadline.
Under Government Code section 912.4, the entity's board has 45 days to act on a claim. If it does not act, the claim "shall be deemed to have been rejected by the board on the last day of the period within which the board was required to act upon the claim." The claimant and the board can agree in writing to extend that period.
Government Code section 945.6(a) then sets the time to sue:
- If the entity gives written notice of rejection under section 913, the suit must be filed "not later than six months after the date such notice is personally delivered or deposited in the mail."
- If no written notice is given, the suit must be filed "within two years from the accrual of the cause of action."
The first of those rules is the one that surprises people. A written rejection notice can shorten the state deadline to six months from the date the notice was mailed, which may fall well before the two-year anniversary of the incident.
Clock two: two years for Section 1983 claims
Section 1983 has no statute of limitations of its own. In Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007), the United States Supreme Court restated that the limitations period for a section 1983 suit is the one the state provides for personal injury torts. Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989), held that where a state has more than one such period, courts borrow the general or residual personal injury statute.
In California, that statute is Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, which sets two years for "an action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another."
Federal claims do not require a government claim at all. In Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988), the Supreme Court held that a state notice-of-claim statute conflicts with section 1983 and cannot be applied to a section 1983 action, even one brought in state court. Missing the six-month government claim deadline therefore does not by itself end the federal claims.
When the federal clock starts
The length of the federal period comes from California law, but when it starts is a question of federal law. Wallace v. Kato explains that a claim generally accrues when the plaintiff has a complete and present cause of action. For an excessive force claim, that is usually the date the force was used.
Some claims start later. Wallace held that the limitations period for a false arrest or false imprisonment claim begins when the false imprisonment ends, which is when the person is held pursuant to legal process, such as being brought before a judge or arraigned. Other types of claims have their own accrual rules, and the start date can be disputed.
Tolling: when a clock can pause
"Tolling" means a pause in a limitations period. Wallace notes that section 1983 cases generally look to state tolling rules as well as the state limitations period.
One California rule matters often in police cases. Government Code section 945.3 provides that a person facing criminal charges may not bring a civil action for money or damages against a peace officer or the officer's employer, based on conduct relating to the charged offense, while the charges are pending before a superior court. It adds that "any applicable statute of limitations for filing and prosecuting these actions shall be tolled" while the charges are pending. The same section states that it "shall not extend the time within which a claim is required to be presented pursuant to Section 911.2."
Pending criminal charges may pause the time to file a lawsuit, but by the statute's own terms they do not pause the six-month deadline to present the government claim.
Whether a particular tolling rule applies to a particular claim, and for how long, depends on the facts and can be contested. No one should count on tolling to rescue a deadline that is close.
How the two clocks can play out
Consider a hypothetical. Someone is injured by officers on January 10. A government claim goes to the entity in March. In April, the entity mails a written notice rejecting it. Under section 945.6, the state-law claims then generally must be filed in court within six months of that mailing, in October. The section 1983 claims, under section 335.1, generally must be filed within two years of the incident, by January 10 two years later. The same incident produces two different last days.
Change one fact: the entity never sends a written rejection. The claim is deemed rejected after 45 days, and section 945.6 gives two years from accrual for the state-law suit. The two deadlines are then closer together, but still come from different statutes.
Because most cases combine both kinds of claims, they are usually filed together in one lawsuit, and the earlier of the two deadlines tends to control the planning.
Common mistakes with the two clocks
- Assuming the federal two years also covers the state claims, and never filing the government claim.
- Assuming that filing the government claim protects the federal claims, then letting two years pass.
- Setting aside a written rejection letter and missing the six-month state lawsuit deadline it starts.
- Waiting for a criminal case to end before filing the government claim; section 945.3 says pending charges do not extend the claim deadline.
- Counting from the wrong start date for a false arrest claim, or for a claim against a different agency.
If the six-month claim deadline has already passed, the Government Claims Act has a narrow late-claim procedure under Government Code sections 911.4 and 946.6, summarized in the government claim guide. For what to preserve after force at a demonstration, see Police Used Force Against You at a Protest in Los Angeles? What to Do Next. Questions about a specific incident can be sent through the contact form.
Sources
- Government Code section 911.2 (six-month and one-year claim deadlines)
- Government Code section 912.4 (45 days for the board to act; deemed rejection)
- Government Code section 945.3 (no civil action while criminal charges are pending; tolling)
- Government Code section 945.4 (no suit until the claim is acted on or deemed rejected)
- Government Code section 945.6 (time to sue after a claim is rejected)
- Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 (two-year period for personal injury actions)
- Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007) (section 1983 limitations period, accrual, and tolling)
- Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989) (section 1983 borrows the general personal injury limitations period)
- Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988) (state notice-of-claim statutes do not apply to section 1983 actions)