Locating Statutory Law
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Legal research often involves locating statutes, one of the primary sources of law.
Primary sources are the law as it comes directly from the lawgiver—the executive,
the legislature, or the court. A statute is a law created by either the federal or a state
legislature. Statutes are published in two forms
SOURCES OF FEDERAL STATUTES
How a Bill Becomes a Law from
Project Vote Smart provides an excellent discussion of the federal legislative process.
- Slip Laws
- Pamphlets containing individual laws are known as "slip laws." These pamphlets are usually
available from the legislature. Few libraries collect these, since they are now readily available on the
internet.
- Session Laws
- Annual compliations of all the laws enacted during a year in chronological order are known as "session
laws." Federal laws are published in United States Statutes at Large [KF64 .A2]. For more
information on using session laws, see the guide Locating Statutes in
Their Original Form.
- Codified Statutes (Official)
- The official version of the federal code is the United States Code (U.S.C.) [KF62.A2], published by the
U.S. Government Printing Office. With the U.S. Code, federal legislation is arranged into subject
order and categorized into fifty topical titles. The code also shows the law in its current version
reflecting subsequent amendments. Any laws that have been repealed are eliminated. Additional features existing
in the official United States Code include a multi-volume general index, historical notes
providing information on amendments or other public laws' effect on section of the U.S.C.,etc.
- Annotated Federal Codes (Unofficial)
- There are two unofficial versions of the United States Code. These are the United States Code
Annotated (U.S.C.A.) [KF62 .A3], published by Thomson West, and the United States Code Service
(U.S.C.S.) [KF62 .A35], published by LexisNexis. These versions have a number of advantages over the
official code. The official version of the federal code is slow to be published. The unofficial versions
are updated more frequently by annual cumulative supplements and other additional pamphlets. More
detailed indexing is provided. Both unofficial sets contain annotations of court cases interpreting code
sections. Because the languange of a law passed by a legislative body is not always clear, these
case annotations are important to better understanding. Also included are cross-references
to additional research materials.
Locating Statutes in Federal Codes
Using the Index that accompanies the code, you can search by topic or subject. With the key
term or subject, consult the index for the particular title and section number for the statute you
want. The Popular Name Table accompanying the annotated code can be searched by the
name of the statute under which is popularly known. Using the Table of Parallel References
that accompanies the annotated code set, you can search by public law number or by the
citation of the statute in which you are interested.
Cautionary note: Once you have located the statute you need, it is always necessary to
check the pocket parts or supplements to see if there have been recent changes to this law.
To ensure that you have the most recent version of the statute, consult Shepard's Federal
Statute Citaitons [KF101.2 .S53]. Check its current status and treatment by later federal court
decisions.
SOURCES OF STATE STATUTES
How a Bill Becomes Law, from the California State
Legislature, provides an excellent discussion of the state Legislative process.
Like federal statutes, state laws passed during each session of the legislature are published
in chronological order. Frequently they are called session laws. Again it is necessary to know
whether you are seeking the law in its original form or as it is currently codified. Researching
state session laws is discussed in another guide.
- Chaptered Laws
- California's laws as they are passed by the legislature are called chaptered laws. They are
published annually as session laws in bound volumes called Statutes and Amendments to the
Codes [KFC25 .A213].
- State Codes
- As with federal law, the researcher most often will want the statute in its existing form. Each
state has a set of codes. For California, there are two code sets, West's Annotated California
Codes [KFC30.5 .D4] and Deering's California Codes Annotated [KFC30.4 .W4], published
by LexisNexis. Each of these codes has a subject index. Both codes contain annotations to cases that
have interpreted the California statutes. Besides the annotations, the codes include historical
notes about the statute and cross-references to other research materials.
Locating Statutes in State Codes
Each of the California annotated codes has a comprehensive index that allow the researcher to find statutes.
Cautionary note: It is necessary to consult Shepard's California Citations, Statutes
Edition [KFC59 .S44] to check the status of a statute and its treatment by the courts.
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Posted 2 Oct. 2004; rev. 10 Oct. 2007.
