Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part I: About This Tutorial
In this tutorial you should learn:
 what statutes are,
 how and where statutes are published,
 how to cite statutes,
 how to find statutes on a particular topic, and
 how to make sure that you have the most current version of a
statute.
This tutorial is divided into six parts:
I. This brief introduction,
II. An overview describing what statutes are and how they are
published,
III. The anatomy of a statutory code,
IV. Methods of finding relevant statutes online,
V. Methods used in print research, and
VI. How to make sure you have the most current version of a
statute.
This concludes Part I of Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the Georgetown Law Library.
Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part II: What Statutes Are & WhereThey Are Published
Definition of a Statute:
 A written law,
 Enacted by a legislative body (Congress, state legislature, or city council)
 Signed by an executive (president, governor, or mayor)
Statutes are published in three different formats:
 Slip laws, which each contain a single statute,
 Session laws, which compile all statutes passed in each session of the
legislature for a particular jurisdiction, and
 Statutory codes, which compile all statutes currently in force for a
particular jurisdiction.
Characteristics of Slip Laws
 A slip law is the first publication of a newly enacted statute,
 Each statute is published separately in slip law form,

You will rarely use slip laws in your research.
Characteristics of Session Laws
 Session laws compile all of the slip laws from a particular session of the
legislature,
 They contain all laws passed, even those that have been amended or
repealed,
 They are arranged chronologically in the order the laws were passed.
Sources of Session Laws
 Session laws are published in both official and unofficial sources,
 Official sources are published by the government,
 Unofficial sources are published by private companies.
Sources of Session Laws, continued
 The term "session laws" is generic. Actual titles vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction.
 At the federal level, the official source of session laws is the U.S. Statutes
at Large.
 U.S.Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN), is an
unofficial source for federal session laws, published by Thomson West.
 You should also know that each state has its own sources for session
laws, and the titles vary from state-to-state.
Sources of Session Laws, continued
 Session laws are also published online,
 Both Lexis/Nexis & Westlaw have U.S. session law databases,
 And the Library of Congress provides free access to session laws from
recent sessions of Congress, in a database called THOMAS.
Characteristics of Statutory Codes
 Arranged by subject,
 Contain only the laws in effect at the time of publication,
 Continuously updated to reflect the changes mandated by new statutes,
and
 Because codes are arranged by subject, they are easier to use to find
relevant statutes than session laws, which are arranged chronologically.
Sources of Statutory Codes
 The official source of the federal code is the United States Code (U.S.C.)
 United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and United States Code Service
(U.S.C.S.) are both unofficial sources of the federal code
 Each state also has its own statutory code(s) and the titles vary from stateto-state
Let's look at an example statute, to illustrate these
differences:
In 1944, Congress passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act.
This law provided education and housing assistance to veterans
of World War II. It is almost always referred to as the "G.I. Bill."
Key Differences between Session Laws and
Statutory Codes
 Session laws are organized chronologically
 Statutory codes are organized by subject
AND
 Session laws contain all statutes enacted
 Statutory codes are updated to contain only the statutes currently in force
The Act was first published as a slip law:
The formal title of the Act. GI Bill is a "popular name."
The Act is organized into titles, chapters, and sections.
The Act was then published as a session law in the
U.S. Statutes at Large:
Title II of the Act deals with Education. Notice the Statutes at Large
Citation: 58 Stat. 287.
Next, the Act was added to the U.S. Code:
The provisions of the G.I. Bill are only a small part of Title 38.
This concludes Part II of Researching Statutes: A Tutorial by
the Georgetown Law Library.
Statutory Law Research:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part III: Anatomy of a Code
In this part of the tutorial you should learn:
 The material contained in a code and how it is organized,
 How a statute actually appears when it is added to a code,
 Differences between the official and unofficial versions of the
U.S. Code,
 How state codes are organized, and
 How to cite to state and federal codes.
Remember What a Code Is
 Codes are arrangements of statutes by subject.
 They contain all of the statutes for a particular jurisdiction that
are currently in force.
 Because they are arranged by subject, they are usually the
best source to use to find relevant statutes.
 Codes are distinct from session laws, which contain all laws
passed, in chronological order.
What Is Contained in a Code?
***For example purposes we are going to use the U.S. Code.
Keep in mind that state codes can be organized differently.***
The current version of the U.S. Code contains:
 The 50 titles of the Code, each dealing with a different legal subject,
 Some preliminary materials (including the U.S. Constitution and other
documents),
 Keyword indexes and tables, and
 Supplement volumes.
We will discuss the indexes, tables, and the supplements in
subsequent sections of this tutorial.
Preliminary Materials
The first volume of the U.S. Code includes the U.S. Constitution,
as well as other foundational laws of the United States (called
"organic laws").
State codes typically contain state constitutions as well.
Titles of the U.S. Code
The titles of the U.S. Code are where you will find the actual text
of statutes.
The U.S. Code is currently divided into 50 titles, and each has a
number assigned to it.
The titles cover extremely broad topical areas, such as
agriculture, banks & banking, or education.
For example, Title 49 is entitled "Transportation" and contains
the current statutes relating to railroads, highways, and pipelines.
How Is a Title Organized?
In the U.S. Code, titles are broken down further into subtitles,
chapters, and sections. In Westlaw, this is what the breakdown of
Title 49 looks like:
Title
Subtitle
Chapter
Section
Anatomy of a Code Section
When you look at a statute in a code, you will find the statute has
several parts.
Not all of these will be present in every statute, but most usually
are:
 an opening statement of purpose
 definitions at or near the beginning
 the heart of the statute itself, describing actions that are
authorized, required or prohibited by it
 annotations (more on these later).
Citing to a Section of the U.S. Code
For a complete statutory citation, you need four elements:
1) The number of the title you are citing to,
2) The abbreviation for the code,
3) The number of the code section, and
4) The year of the code you consulted.
DO NOT include the subtitle and chapter numbers.
See Rule 12 of the Bluebook for details, including standard
abbreviations, when to include the publisher's name, and which
date to use.
Citing to a Section of the U.S. Code
The elements of the citation have to be in a specific order:
 Title number,
 U.S. Code abbrevation,
 Section number,
 Date of the code version consulted.
Citing to a Section of the U.S. Code
In Part II of this tutorial we looked at the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of
1944 ( G.I. Bill). One of the provisions of the G.I. Bill became this section of
Title 38 of the 1946 version of the U.S. Code.
The proper citation of this section is:
38 U.S.C. § 694a (1946)
Let's Take a Look at a Section of the U.S. Code
Remember that Title 38 is called "Veterans' Benefits." Chapter 30
of Title 38 deals with educational assistance for veterans.
The Table of Contents is usually the first section of a new chapter.
There’s a statement of purpose.
There’s also a definitions section providing explanations of words
used in the act.
So far, we have only talked about the statutes themselves, the
text passed by Congress.
But some codes give us much more than that. Some codes are
annotated, meaning the publishers have added some
information to the plain text of the statutes.
There are two annotated versions of the U.S. Code. They are
called the U.S. Code Annotated, and the U.S. Code Service.
What do they add?
Annotations usually include:
 An historical note with information about when the statute was
originally passed and amended,
 Cross-references to related regulations issued by executive
branch agencies,
 Notes of decisions summarizing court cases that have
interpreted the statute, and
 References to secondary sources, such as encyclopedias or
treatises, that discuss the statute.
United States Code Service Annotations
This annotation section cites regulations issued for this statute by
executive agencies.
This annotation section refers to an encyclopedia article on this topic
in American Jurisprudence.
This annotation section includes case law which has interpreted this
statute.
Code Editions
As we have seen, the U.S. Code (and many state codes) are
published in several different editions by different publishers.
Each contains the same text of the statute itself, but they differ in
the annotations and other research aids they contain. Since code
citations are always given by title and section number, you can
use any edition of the code to find the text of the statute.
State Codes
Some state codes use numbers to designate the titles, while
others use names. If a state uses the name instead of a number,
the name of the title must be included in a citation.
For example, California's state code uses names. The title for
family law is cited Cal. Fam. Code; the one for public utilities is
cited Cal. Pub. Util. Code. To complete the citation, add:
 Section number
 Year of publication (in parentheses)
Example: Cal. Educ. Code § 49061 (2004)
Consult the Bluebook (Table 1) for further information on citing
state codes.
This concludes Part III of the Statutory Research
Tutorial.
Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part IV: Finding Statutes Electronically
In this section, you should learn:
 How to locate statutes online when you have a citation or a
"popular name,"
 How to find statutes on a particular topic using Westlaw and
Lexis, and
 About the Library of Congress' legislative database, THOMAS,
which can be used to retrieve a statute.
Locating a Statute by Citation
Using an online service to retrieve a specific section of the code
is very straight forward.
We will start on Lexis to find this section of the U.S. Code from
the Americans With Disabilities Act:
42 U.S.C. § 12181 (2006)
Please note that on Lexis, the annotated version of the U.S.
Code is called the U.S. Code Service.
On Westlaw, it is called the U.S. Code Annotated.
The next few screens provide instructions on using Lexis's "Get a
Document" function and Westlaw's "Find" function.
To retrieve a single section of the U.S. Code on Lexis by using its
citation, select the Get a Document link.
Enter the citation 42 usc 12181, click the Get button
The second item is the actual statute. Click its link now to see the
full-text.
The Practitioner's Toolbox is a handy resource for quick links to the
publisher's annotations - history, decisions, regulations and more.
For example, the History link will direct you to the Public Law number
which has been codified at 42 U.S.C. 12181. Click the scroll bar to
continue.
Above is the text of the statute, which provides definitions related to
public accommodations offered by private entities (such as retail
establishments). You can scroll through the text online. Click on the
scroll bar to the right to proceed.
Now, let's retrieve the same statute on Westlaw.
From the Westlaw welcome screen, enter the citation of the statute,
42 usc 12181 in the “Find by Citation” box and then press Go.
Only the United States Code Annotated, published by West, is
available on Westlaw, so 42 U.S.C.A. section 12181 appears. If you
need to look at a previous or subsequent section, you can easily
navigate through the code with the "Previous Section" and "Next
Section" links.
Finding a Statute in the Popular Name Table
What if you don't have a citation for the statute, but you know the
name of the law you are looking for?
The most reliable tool to use in this situation is the Popular
Name Table.
While this is very easy to use in the print volumes of the statutes,
it is also available online and can be used on Westlaw & Lexis.
This is one feature that can be more cumbersome to use online
than in print, though.
Let's do a quick demonstration of the Popular Name Table on
Westlaw.
Select the All Federal link to begin your statutory research.
Click the Popular Name Table link.
Here's the U.S.C.A. POPULAR NAME INDEX page.
To locate the Americans with Disabilities Act, select the A link.
You'll have to scroll down the A list to locate the statute we're looking
for, so click on the scroll bar on the right.
Once you've located it, you can jump to the statute by selecting the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) link.
The page that opens links you to the sections of the U.S. Code
where the ADA has been codified.
Finding a Statute Related to a Subject
What if we don't have a citation or a name for a statute? What if
we need to find a statute based on a fact pattern or subject?
Let's locate a statute on Lexis by searching for keywords related
to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Follow the United States Code Service - Titles 1 through 50 link to begin
your statutory research.
To research our problem, we'll enter the query disabilit! /p
discriminat! /p public accommodation and click the Search
button.
14 sections of the U. S. Code include these search terms, so click
the scroll bar to try to locate the most pertinent sections for review.
Remember we are searching the U.S.C.S., so annotations and other
notes are included in the search.
To read the entire section online, you would click on the citation.
Let's try the same search on Westlaw.
Select All Federal under the “Statutes” heading to begin your
statutory research on Westlaw.
Enter appropriate search terms, such as discriminat! /p disabilit! /p
"public accommodation" and click the Search Westlaw button.
Scroll through the search results to review the sections and find the
most relevant one.
THOMAS
THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov) is the legislative documents database
from the Library of Congress. It provides free access to the current
version of the U.S. Code, as well as recent public laws. While it is slightly
more cumbersome to navigate and lacks case annotations, the free
access to timely statutory materal is important to point out.
Follow the U.S. Code link to begin searching on THOMAS.
You can enter a search term, even if you have the citation, so enter
disabilities in the “search words” box, 42 in the title box, and 12181
in the section box. Finally, click on the search button to conduct
the search.
THOMAS connects you to this search page maintained by the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Here's the section you requested. Click on it to retrieve the full-text
of the statute.
The full-text of the statute appears.
This concludes Part IV of Researching Statutes.
Close this window to return to the tutorial's index.
Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part V: Finding Statutes in the Books
Got a citation?
Using the books is simple if you have a citation to a specific
section of either the U.S. Code or a state code.
Use the library catalog to find the library's location of the state or
federal code you are looking for, then simply identify the volume
using the title number or name from the citation. The sections are
then organized in numerical order.
So if you were looking for 42 U.S.C.A. § 12181, this would be the
volume to use.
Know the Name of a Law?
If you don't have a citation but you do know the statute of the law
you are looking for, use a Popular Name Table.
Not all federal statutes have names, but many do, Some
examples are the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clean Air
Act, or the Civil Rights Act. The popular name table lists named
statutes alphabetically, and gives you the citation to where the
law appears in the U.S. Code.
Often, a single statute may have been broken up into many
different sections of the U.S. Code, even scattered among
different titles, if it deals with diverse subjects.
In that case, the popular name table will list all of the different
sections that contain parts of that statute.
Popular Name Tables
Popular name tables are included in the U.S. Code, the U.S.
Code Annotated and the U.S. Code Service, as well as all state
codes - look for the volumes near the end of the set.
This excerpt from the Popular Names Table shows you all the sections of the
U.S. Code which contain parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Researching statutes on a specific topic?
Most often, you don't have a citation or a name -- you just know a
topic and need to find the relevant statutes.
Every printed code has an index. Most are located in separate
volumes at the end of the set. The index works just the same as in
any other book: you look under the words that describe your topic to
find the section numbers of the code that deal with that topic.
The trick is to figure out the correct keywords to use. It's always
good to do a little brainstorming beforehand.
This concludes Part V of Researching Statutes: A Tutorial by
the Georgetown Law Library. The final part of this tutorial will
show you the importance of determining the statute's currency.
Researching Statutes:
A Tutorial by the
Georgetown Law Library
Copyright 2009 Georgetown University Law Library
Part VI: Currency of Statutes
Currency of Statutes
It is crucial to know whether the text of the law you are reading is
current. To be sure, do the following:
 For books, always check the supplemental volumes (more on
these in the next slide).
 Know the date of the document you're reading.
 If you need to have the most current information available,
check commercial online databases in Lexis or Westlaw.
Supplements
Always check the supplements! The supplement is a separate
publication that contains any changes made after the main printed
volume appeared.
 In many code volumes, the supplement will be a "pocket part," a
pamphlet tucked inside the back cover, containing the latest changes.
 For some volumes, the supplement may be a separate book. Usually
this is a paperback that stands on the shelf next to the main volume.
 When using a supplement, check under the same citation as in the
main volume.
Supplements, continued
From the pocket part, we can see that no new legislation has impacted §
12181. If it had, there would be new statutory language here.
There are some new Notes of Decisions, though, providing updated case
law on the topic.
Advance Legislative Services
One final source to check in the books is the Advance Legislative
Service volumes at the end of the code.
These volumes contain reprints of new laws that have not yet
been codified, i.e., organized by topic.
Advance legislative services are organized chronologically, in the
order the laws were passed.
Know the Date!
 You need to know the date of the document you're reading!
 A print supplement will have its date on the cover or title page.
 A document in a database will have the date it was updated
near the top or bottom of the screen.
 The database will usually be more current than the print
version.
Updating Online
To ensure that you have the most current information possible,
you can check KeyCite, a database in Westlaw, or Shepard’s, a
databse in Lexis, to see whether your code section has been
modified very recently. Among other things, KeyCite and
Shepard’s keep track of any pending or recently passed
legislation that would affect a statute currently on the books.
This concludes Part VI of Researching Statutes: A Tutorial by
the Georgetown Law Library.