Researching Colorado
Legislative History
SWALL Annual Meeting
Legislation History Research
April 7, 2006
Alan Pannell
Reference Librarian
University of Colorado Law Library
University of Colorado School of Law
State Legislative History
Limitations of researching state legislative history
• No compiled legislative histories
• No print or electronic access to committee reports or debate
transcripts
• Procedural research (e.g., tracking bill status) increasingly easier to
do online
• Legislative intent is usually the most critical to researchers, but
remains difficult to discover (especially for older laws)
University of Colorado School of Law
Research Strategies
Detective Work
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State statutes passed in recent years may include a brief statement of purpose
in their first section
Routine legislative actions taken on a bill may hold clues to what the lawmakers
intended.
Legislative intent may sometimes be found in the documents of related bills that
were incorporated into the enacted statute.
May be necessary to understand the state’s legislation process and the political
climate of the year
 How A Bill Becomes Colorado Law [Chart]
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/PDF/Bill%20becomes%20law%20chart.pdf
University of Colorado School of Law
Legislative Audio Tapes
Colorado State Archives
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1973-Present
Legislative committee hearings and floor debates are tape recorded and
made available to the public (by appointment).
May to need to determine bill number(s), year enacted, committee
assignments, location of meeting, and time of discussion to locate
appropriate tape.
Because of technical difficulties and the deterioration of the tapes over the
years, some of the sessions were not recorded or are inaudible.
Specific statutory sections may not be referred to in legislative hearings.
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http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/legis.html
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University of Colorado School of Law
Research Assistance
Legislative History Compilation
• Research service will track down legislative components of a
particular statute
• Includes committee hearings, committee prints, house and senate
floor debates, and previous versions of a bill.
• Will send someone to the Colorado State Archives to listen and
record audio recordings of committee hearings and legislative floor
debates.
Access Information
http://www.access-information.com/
University of Colorado School of Law
Legislative Resources Online
Colorado General Assembly
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CO Revised Statutes
Session Laws
Bill Digest
House/Senate Bills, Calendars, Journals, Resolutions, Fiscal Notes
Ballot Issues/Initiatives
Legislative Rules
Prior Session Information Current Regular Session Information
Audio Broadcasts of Current Proceedings
Legislative Directory
Legislator Home Pages
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http://www.leg.state.co.us/
University of Colorado School of Law
Statutory Research
Colorado Revised Statutes
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http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/HTML/colorado_revised_statutes.htm
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Free LexisNexis search interface
Includes brief annotations
Legislative Drafting Manual
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/
olls/HTML/legislative_drafting_manual.htm
University of Colorado School of Law
Statutory Construction
CRS 2-4-101. Common and technical usage
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Plain language and meaning
CRS 2-4-201. Intentions in the enactment of statutes
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Presumes constitutional compliance, just and reasonable result, feasibility,
public interest, and harmony with other statutes.
Statute must be construed to further the legislative intent evidenced by the
entire statutory scheme.
Two statutes concerning same subject matter should be read together.
Title of a statute, though not dispositive of legislative intent, may be used as
an aid in construing a statute.
CRS 2-4-203. Ambiguous statutes - aids in construction
University of Colorado School of Law
Bill Tracking
Colorado Session Laws
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1993-Present
Allows tracking of language changes over time
May contain brief statement of bill’s purpose
Consider contacting the bill sponsor regarding intent
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http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/HTML/session_laws_of_colorado.htm
Digest of Bills
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1994 – 2005 (including extraordinary sessions)
Summarizes major provisions of each bill passed or amended during
previous session
Arranged by subject index
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/HTML/digest_of_bills.htm
University of Colorado School of Law
Other Resources
Office of Legislative Legal Services
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Maintains complete legislative records on bills, resolutions, and memorials, along with
law summaries.
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/olls1.htm
Colorado Legislative Council
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Research publications include issue briefs (1997-2006)
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http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/
Newspapers
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Denver Post
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http://www.denverpost.com
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Rocky Mountain News
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com
LexisNexis and Westlaw
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LexisNexis: COALS
Westlaw: CO-LEGIS
University of Colorado School of Law
CO Legislative History Guides
Colorado Legislative History (University of Denver College of Law Library)
http://www.law.du.edu/library/handouts/34ColoradoLegislativeHistory.pdf
Finding Colorado Legislative History (University of Colorado Law School Library)
http://www.colorado.edu/Law/lawlib/legislative_histories/co_leg_history.pdf
Legislative Records (Colorado State Archives)
http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/legis.html
Researching Colorado Statutes (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs)
http://web.uccs.edu/library/guides/colostatutes.htm
Researching Legislative History (Office of Legislative Legal Services)
http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/PDF/LEGISLATIVE%20HISTORY%202005.pdf
Uncovering Colorado Legislative Law-making and Legislative Intent (U Penn Law Library)
http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/coall/dong.pdf
Uncovering Legislative History in Colorado (Colorado Association of Law Libraries - COALL)
http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/coall/corner.htm
University of Colorado School of Law
Contact Info
Alan K. Pannell
Reference Librarian
University of Colorado Law Library
Campus Box 402
Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 735-1867
Fax: (303) 492-2707
Email: alan.pannell@colorado.edu
CU Document Delivery Service
http://www.colorado.edu/Law/lawlib/docdel.htm
University of Colorado School of Law