How Long Do I Have to Sue the District of Columbia?
Short answer: six months to give written notice under D.C. Code § 12-309 — which is far shorter than the statute of limitations and is what actually ends most claims against the District.
The rule
D.C. Code § 12-309 provides that an action may not be maintained against the District of Columbia for unliquidated damages unless, within six months after the injury or damage was sustained, the claimant gives written notice to the Mayor of "the approximate time, place, cause, and circumstances of the injury or damage." Courts apply the requirement strictly. Miss it and the claim is barred — not weakened, barred — no matter how strong the case was.
Who the notice goes to and what it must contain
The notice goes to the Mayor (in practice, it is served on the Office of Risk Management). It must state the approximate time, the place, the cause, and the circumstances of the injury. Vague is not good enough. The District litigates the adequacy of these notices, and a letter that omits the cause or misstates the location can fail even though it was mailed on time. Get the intersection right. Describe the defect or the conduct. Say what happened.
The police report exception — and why not to rely on it
The statute treats a police report made in the regular course of duty as potentially satisfying the notice requirement. That is a narrow, fact-specific safety valve: the report has to contain the same core information a proper notice would, and many reports do not. It exists to rescue the occasional claim — it is not a plan.
The separate three-year clock
The six-month notice is not the deadline for filing suit. The ordinary three-year statute of limitations for negligence still applies on top of it. But a lawsuit filed comfortably inside three years is dead on arrival if the six-month notice was never given.
If six months has already passed
Call anyway. Whether a police report satisfies the statute, when the six months began to run, and whether your claim is really "against the District" at all (as opposed to a contractor, WMATA, or a private owner) are all fact-specific questions. We have seen claims survive that looked lost — and the analysis costs you nothing.
Claims against the District of Columbia →
Talk to us before you talk to the insurance company. The consultation is free. Call (202) 524-0123 or send us the details.