Introduction
This pathfinder focuses on locating state and federal statutes. Print sources
available at the University of Minnesota Law Library and resources available on
the web (both subscription/fee-based and "free" resources) are covered. For a
detailed discussion of the legislative process and legislative history research,
consult the sources listed in the Guides to
Legislative Process and Legislative History Research at the end of this
pathfinder.
Session Laws
Legislative bodies, such as Congress and state legislatures, meet
periodically in what are generically referred to as "legislative sessions" to
consider and pass legislation. Bills that are eventually enacted into law during
a legislative session are generically referred to as "session laws". Typically,
for each legislative session, these laws are sequentially numbered. Thereafter,
they are usually referred to by the legislative session of their enactment and
their sequential number.
A Federal session law is called a "Public Law". Public Laws are referred to
by the congress in which they are enacted and their sequential number. For
example in the citation: P.L. 106-5, the P.L. stands for "Public
Law", 106 refers to the 106th Congress and 5 stands for the 5th
law passed by that 106th congress). Note, prior to 1957, Federal session laws
were referred to by an assigned chapter number rather than a public law number.
Minnesota session laws each receive a chapter law number. A typical citation
looks like this: 2001 Minn. Laws, c. 92. In this example, the yearly
legislative session is given first (2001); Minn. Laws refers to
Session Laws of the State of Minnesota, the official publication of
Minnnesota session laws; and c. 92 stands for chapter law number 92.
Chapter laws in Minnesota are sequentially numbered and roughly correspond to
the order in which they were enacted into law (similar to Public Laws).
Publication of Session Laws
Laws from each legislative session are published by the government in
"official" hard bound volumes. There is a considerable lag time between the
enactment of a session law and its publication in these hard bound sets. Prior
to their publication in the permanent hard bound volumes, session laws may be
published individually as "slip laws". Slip laws are not widely distributed.
More common and accessible publications for locating recent session laws
include: legislatures' web sites, subscription/fee-based web sites (e.g.
LexisNexis and Westlaw), and commercially published paperback pamphlets,
generically called "advance session law services".
Sources for Federal Session Laws (Public Laws)
Print Sources
- United States Statutes at Large
The official, permanent hard
bound set of federal laws (includes public and private laws) enacted by
Congress.
Library Location: Plaza level, section A, KF50.U6
- United States Code Congressional & Administrative News (USCCAN)
USCCAN, published by West Group, issues an advance session law
service in the form of monthly paperback pamphlets that contain newly enacted
public laws (usually within a month of their enactment). Pagination to the
United States Statutes at Large is provided for each Public Law. The
public laws in these pamphlets are cumulated and published in hardbound
USCCAN volumes.
Library Location: Plaza level reading room,
section A, KF48.W45 and 2nd floor, section A, Core2 146 .Z824 (advance pamphlets
on reserve).
- United States Code Service (Advance Pamphlets)
These monthly
advance session law service pamphlets are published by LexisNexis. Like
USCCAN these pamphlets contain the text of recent public laws and include
pagination for the United States Statutes at Large.
Library
Location: Plaza level reading room, section A, KF62 1972.L38 and 3rd floor,
section A, Core3 146 .Z826. Internet (Commercial Services)
- LexisNexis:
Library name = Codes; File name = STATLG
- Westlaw:
Database ID = US-PL (current term) and US-PL-OLD (1973 -
previous term). See also USCCAN below.
Database ID = USCCAN
- LexisNexis
Congressional (http://www.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/cong.cgi)
Available to all
users from University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus libraries and remotely to
U of M affiliated users. Coverage is from 1988-present. A guide by the U of M
Government Publications Library to using LexisNexis Congressional is available
at http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/guides/congcomp.phtml. Internet
("Free" Sources)
- GPO Access, Public and
Private Laws Database. (Coverage starts with the 104th Congress, 1995-1996)
- Thomas (U.S. Congress & the Library
of Congress)
Legislative databases include: Bill Summary & Status
(coverage 93rd through 107th Congresses, 1973 - present), Bill Text (coverage
101st - 107th Congresses, 1989 - present) and Public Laws by Law Number
(coverage: 93rd through 107th Congresses, 1973 - present).
Sources for Minnesota Session Laws
Print Sources
- Laws of Minnesota
Hard bound volumes published at the end of each
yearly legislative session by the State. Finding aids include a subject index
and tables.
Libary Location: Plaza level, section A, KFM 5425.A24
Internet (Commercial Services)
- LexisNexis
Library name = Minn; File name = MNALS
Minnesota Advance
Legislative Service file contains session laws from 1989 through the current
session.
- Westlaw:
Database ID = MN-LEGIS (current legislature) and MN-LEGIS-OLD
(1988, 75th legislature to next to the most recent legislative term).
- LexisNexis Academic -
Minnesota Advance Legislative Service
Available to all users at Univesity of
Minnesota Twin Cities campus libraries and remotely to U of M affiliated users.
Coverage from 1989-present. Internet ("Free" Sources)
- Minnesota State
Legislature
Coverage from the 1st Territorial Legislature, (1849) to the
current session. Search engine and tables provided.
Sources for Session Laws of Other States
Print Sources
- The library guide State Materials
provides a state-by-state listing of primary and secondary materials held by the
University of Minnesota Law Library. This is a very helpful source for finding
the law library's session law holdings in hardcopy and microform for all states
and U.S. territories. The Law Library receives the session laws of all 50 states
and the U.S. territories on microfiche through its subscription to the
Session Laws of American States and Territories series published by W.S.
Hein. For more information search MNCAT
(the library's catalog) by title or subject as follows:
Title search: [state
name] session laws, (example: New York session laws) or Subject search:
law--[state name], (example: law--Georgia) Internet Commercial
Services - (LexisNexis, Westlaw)
- LexisNexis
Session laws for each state are in the appropriate
state library, e.g. ORE for Oregon and the appropriate Advance Legislative file
name, e.g. ORALS for the Oregon Advance Legislative Service. For many states
coverage extends back at least 10 years or more (as of 3/02).
- Westlaw
Session laws for each state are in the appropriate state
legislative service database. Example: FL-LEGIS for laws from the current
Florida legislative session. FL-LEGIS-OLD for laws from prior sessions of the
Florida legislature. For many states coverage extends back at least 10 years or
more (as of 3/02). Internet "Free" Sources Many states
publish their session laws on the Internet, usually on the legislature's web
site. Two good directories with links to state legislative web sites are:
Codes & Statutes (Federal & State)
Statutory compilations, commonly known as codes, are a publication of the
general and permanent laws currently in force in a particular jurisdiction. Two
important features that distinquish codes from session law publications are:
- The laws published in codes are arranged by topic or subject so that related
laws are grouped together, unlike session laws which are published in
chronological and sequential order.
- Codes incorporate new laws and amendments (e.g., new or deleted language) to
existing laws into the text of the code.
Through their topical
arrangement of laws and their incorporation of amendments to existing laws,
codes provide a practical method for locating the current law on a particular
topic. The process of incorporating new session laws into an existing statutory
compilation or code is referred to as codification. When a session law is
codified, its original language is generally preserved intact. Parts of the
session law may be separated out and integrated into different sections of the
code to fit the topical arrangement scheme of the code. In addition, minor
adjustments may be made to incorporate the language from the session law into
the existing code in a coherent fashion.
There are a variety of topical arrangement schemes under which laws are
organized in the codes of each jurisdiction. Most codes include a subject index
and in some cases a popular name index or table to facilitate locating the law
by subject or a popular name, e.g. "lemon law".
Official Codes
Official codes are codes that are either published or
sanctioned by the government. They generally contain the text of the law and
brief editiorial notes on the history of the statute. These notes, sometimes
referred to as the "history line", contain citations to the session law that
enacted the statute and any subsequent session laws that amended it. As a
research tool official codes generally have two drawbacks when compared to
commercially published annotated codes (see below). First, there can be a
considerable lag-time between the enactment of new legislation and its
publication in the official code. Second, other than historical notations, e.g.
the history line, official codes do not provide the valuable research
enhancements that commercially published annotated codes do.
Annotated Codes
Annotated codes are privately published (West Group and
LexisNexis are the predominate publishers). In some states the annotated code is
also the official code for the state. Annotated codes offer a number of
advantages over unannotated official codes that make them much more useful for
research purposes. These advantages include:
- Frequent Updates/Supplementation: when compared to official codes
published by the government, annotated codes are updated more quickly through
annual and mid-year supplements in the form of pocket parts and pamphlets. Thus
new laws and amendments appear in annotated codes more quickly than official
codes.
- Annotations to Legislative History, Secondary Sources & Case Law:
- Legislative History Explanations and Related Codes Section References:
following the history line citations, annotated codes selectively provide
additional explanation and analysis of amendments and changes to a code section.
References to related code sections are also selectively provided.
- Case Law Annotations: case law annotations consist of brief abstracts and
citations to cases (if any) that have applied or interpreted a code section. The
case law annotations are grouped together and indexed in a section labeled
Notes of Decisions or Case Notes.
- Secondary Source Annotations: citations to relevant secondary research
sources such as law review articles, legal encyclopedias, treatises, American
Law Reports (ALR) annotations, relevant West Digest topics and key numbers, form
books and other practice-related materials.
- Subject Indexes & Finding Aids: annotated codes are usually
accompanied by detailed subject indexes that are republished annually (usually
in paperback). These indexes also include a popular name index and tables to
assist users in finding statutes.
Sources for Federal Statutes (United States Code)
Print Sources
- United States Code (official, unannotated)
The U.S. Code is
arranged in 50 titles. Each title contains laws in a broad subject area; for
example, Title 18 of the U.S.C. covers crimes and criminal procedure. Each title
is divided into chapters and each chapter is divided into sections. Laws in the
U.S.C. are referred to by their title number first, then the abbreviation
U.S.C., followed by the section number, e.g. 18 U.S.C. section 2101. Each U.S.C.
volume lists the title and section numbers it contains on its spine and cover.
The official version of the U.S.C. is published in hardbound volumes by the
Government Printing Office. The publication schedule is very slow. The U.S.C. is
reissued as a new edition every six years and updated in between editions with
annual hardbound supplements. A subject index with a "Popular Name Index"
accompanies the set.
Library Location: Plaza level, section A, KF 62
- United States Code Annotated (USCA)
The USCA is
published by West Group and is updated with annual pocket parts and pamphlets.
It includes an annual multi-volume "General Index" issued in paperback. A table
for finding laws by popular name appears at the end of the General Index. The
USCA set is accompanied by monthly supplementary pamphlets for updating
code sections beyond the laws published in the annual pocket parts or pamphlets.
Library Location: Plaza level, section A & Reserve, KF 62 1927
.W45, also on the 4th floor, core collection, Core4 146 .Z822.
- United States Code Service (USCS)
The USCS is
published by LexisNexis and is updated with annual pocket parts and pamphlets.
It includes an annual multi-volume "General Index" issued in paperback. A table
for finding laws by popular name is published in a hardbound "Tables" volume.
The USCS set is accompanied by two monthly supplementary services, the
"Advance" pamphlets service and the "Cumulative Later Case and Statutory
Service", for updating code sections and case annotations beyond the laws
published in the annual pocket parts or pamphlets.
Library Location:
Plaza level, section A & Reserve, KF 62 1927 .L38, also on the 3rd floor,
core collection, Core3 3146 .Z826.
Internet (Commercial Services)
- LexisNexis:
United States Code Service (USCS)
Library name =
GENFED; File name = USCODE
- Westlaw:
United States Code
Database ID = USC (sections taken
from the USCA minus the annotations)
United States Code Annotated
(USCA)
Database ID = USCA
Database ID = USCCAN
- LexisNexis
Congressional (http://www.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/cong.cgi)
Available to on campus users and remotely to U of M affiliated users. Search
by keyword or retrieve by U.S.C. citation (title & section number).
Sources for Minnesota Statutes
Print Sources
- Minnesota Statutes (official, unannotated)
Minnesota
Statutes is a multi-volume set published by the Minnesota Revisor of
Statutes. The statutes are reissued in a new edition every other year; pocket
part supplements are published between editions. A helpful "User's Guide"
appears in the Preface in volume 1. Statutes are arranged in broad subject areas
that are then divided into chapters and sections. A typical citation includes
the chapter number, section number, and the edition year, e.g. Minn. Stat.
section 609.541 (2000). The number to the left of the decimal point (609) refers
to the chapter number and the number to the right of the decimal point (541)
refers to the section number. Each Minnesota Statutes volume lists the
chapter numbers it contains on its spine. Multi-volume Index volumes provide
subject access to the statutes. To find statutes by their popular name, look in
subject index under the heading, "Popular Names of Acts". A separate Rules
volume at the end of the set contains various court and miscellaneous rules. The
library retains earlier and superceded statutes volumes.
Library
Location: Plaza level, section A, Reference Office & 3rd floor, section
F, call #: KFM 5429 .M56
- Minnesota Statutes Annotated
Minnesota Statutes Annotated
is published by West Group and is updated with annual pocket parts and
pamphlets. It includes an annual multi-volume "General Index" issued in
paperback. A table for finding laws by popular name appears at the end of the
General Index. The set includes separate "Constitution" and "Court Rules"
volumes that provide the text and annotations of the Minnesota Constitution and
various Minnesota court rules. A "Session Law Service" consisting of monthly
supplementary pamphlets issued during and shortly after each legislative session
also accompanies the set. These pamphlets contain session laws passed during the
current legislative session and tables for locating new statutes and updating
existing statutes beyond the annual pocket parts and/or pamphlets. The library
retains earlier and superceded statutes volumes.
Library Location:
Plaza level, section A, Reference Office, Reserve Collection, call #: KFM 5430
1946 .A315; 3rd floor, section A, call #: Core3 148 .M62; 4th floor, section A,
call #: Core4 148 .M62.
Internet (Commercial Services)
- LexisNexis:
Minnesota Statutes, Constitution, Court Rules & Current
Advance Legislative Service.
No annotations are provided other than the
legislative history line. An archive of Minnesota statutes starting with the
1991 legislative session is available in the MNARCH file.
Library name =
MINN; File name = MNCODE
- Westlaw:
Minnesota Statutes - Unannotated
Database ID = MN-ST
(sections taken from the Minnesota Statutes Annotated minus the annotations)
Minnesota Statutes Annotated
Contains statutes, constitution and
court rules with annotations to case law, legislative history notes, and
secondary sources. An archive of annotated statutes beginning with 1991 is
available. Database ID = MN-ST-ANN
- LexisNexis
Academic (http://www.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/lex2.cgi)
Contains
Minnesota Statutes, Constitution, Court Rules & Current Advance Legislative
Service. Users affiliated with the Univesity of Minnesota Twin Cites campus may
access it remotely; all others may access it "on-site" from campus libraries.
Internet ("Free" Sources)
- Minnesota Statutes.
Official version of the Minnesota Statutes from the Minnesota State Legislature
web site. Several options are available for locating statutes, including:
retrieval by chapter and/or section number; browsing the table of contents or
subject index; and full-text keyword searching. The Minnesota Constitution,
session laws (1994-current), and administrative rules can be accessed from this
web page as well.
Sources for Codes/Statutes of Other States
Print Sources
- The library guide State Materials
provides a state-by-state listing of primary and secondary materials held by the
University of Minnesota Law Library. This is a very helpful source for finding
U.S. state and territory codes/statutes held in our library. The Law Library
receives the codes/statutes for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the
U.S. territories. For most states the library has earlier and superceded
statute/code volumes.
Internet Commercial Services - (LexisNexis,
Westlaw)
- LexisNexis
Codes/statutes for all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are in the CODES library. For most
states an archive file containing earlier codes/statutes is available.
- Westlaw
Codes/statutes for all 50 states, the District of
Columbia and U.S. territories are in the appropriate state/territory database.
For most states a historical archive database of earlier statutes is available.
- LexisNexis
Academic (http://www.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/lex2.cgi)
Contains statutes, constitution, court rules & a Current Advance
Legislative Service for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto
Rico. Users affiliated with the Univesity of Minnesota Twin Cites campus may
access it remotely; all others may access it "on-site" from campus libraries.
Internet "Free" Sources
Many states publish their codes or statutes on the Internet, usually on the
legislature's web site. Two good directories of legislative web sites are:
Each of these web sites has a directory of links to state
legislature web sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between session laws and statutes or codes, and which
publication should I use to find the current law in a particular jurisdiction?
Session laws are laws that have been enacted during a legislative session.
Session law publications publish these laws in chronological order, by the
legislative session in which they were enacted. A session law may be
subsequently amended or repealed by a later session law(s). Codes or statutory
compliations publish the laws in a topical or subject arrangement (not
chronological). In addition, code or statutes volumes are periodically updated
with supplements and/or new editions in order to reflect changes, e.g. addition
of new laws, changes in existing laws, and deletion of repealed laws. If you are
looking for the current law on a particular topic(s) for a particular
jurisdiction, you should consult the code or statutes set for your jurisdiction
because the laws are arranged by topic and are updated to reflect any changes in
the law. If you need to find the text of a specific law (often referred to as an
"act") that was enacted during a specific legislative session, e.g., Civil
Rights Act of 1964, then you need to consult the session law publication for the
appropriate jurisdiction.
- Where can I get the text of a law that was very recently enacted (within the
last year or sooner)?
One of the first (and quickest) sources from which to obtain recently enacted
laws is a legislature's web site, e.g., Thomas (for Federal Public
Laws) or through a commercial vendor's web site, e.g. LexisNexis, Westlaw,
Congressional Universe. The first print source you are likely to find session
laws in are advance legislative services. These are usually published by the
commercial publisher of the annotated code or statutes for a particular
jurisdiction. For example, West Group publishes Minnesota Statutes
Annotated and the monthly Minnesota Session Law Service. Print
sources for recent Federal laws (Public Laws) include the United States Code
Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) and the advance legislative
services that accompany the two annotated U.S. Code sets, U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S.
- I have found the law (code section) I was looking for; now what sources
should I check to make sure there haven't been any changes in the law since it
was published in the code volume I read it in?
The first step is to check any supplements that accompany the code volume.
The supplements are usually in the form of an annual pocket part, published
around the beginning of the year, and inserted in the back of each volume. In
some cases a pamphlet supplement may be published instead of a pocket part and
shelved near the volume.
The second step is to check to see if an advance legislative service is
available for your code or statues set. These are usually soft-bound pamphlet
volumes published by the publisher of the annotated code for your jurisdiction.
They are usually shelved at the end of the annotated code set. These advance
legislative services publish the text of laws enacted during the current or most
recently concluded legislative session. They usually contain a table at the back
of the pamphlet to help you determine whether your code or statute section has
been effected by any recently enacted session law(s).
For example, Minnesota Statutes Annotated, published by West Group,
has an accompanying advance legislative service, Minnesota Session Law
Service. The Minnesota Session Law Service pamphlets, published
throughout the current legislative session, contain the text of recently enacted
session laws and a table titled, "Statutes Amended, New or Repealed". This table
can be used to determine if a given Minnesota statute has been effected by a
recently enacted Minnesota session law. If the statute is listed in the table,
the effect (amended, repealed etc.) is indicated along with the session law
citation.
Guides to Legislative Process and Legislative History Research
Federal
Minnesota
Other States
One source for finding information on the legislative process and legislative
history research of other states is to consult a legal research guide or
bibliography for the state of interest. Our law library collects these materials
for most states (the most current are kept in the Reference Office). Appendix B,
"State Legal Research Guides and Bibliographies", in Finding the Law by
Berring & Edinger, (call #KF240.B45 1999 Reserve & Reference Office)
provides a bibliography of these guides and bibliographies.
Another source for information is to check the web sites of the legislature
and the state/supreme court law libraries of the state you're interested in for
publications on that state's legislative process and legislative history
research. The Minnesota State Law Library has compiled a directory of links
title, "Other
State/Supreme Court Law Libraries". Two of the better directories of links
to state legislature web sites are: WashLaw Webs
StateLaw web page and Law
Librarians Society of Washington D.C. State Legislatures, State Laws & State
Regulations web page.
Links verified 4/9/2008
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