Statutory Research
A guide to finding laws.
What are Statutes?
Statutes, also known as laws, are passed by
either:
1)
The U.S. Congress [federal statutes]; or
2)
State legislatures [state statutes]
Rules & Regulations
 Rules and regulations are NOT the same as statutes
 Rules and regulations are promulgated by administrative
agencies, which are part of the executive branch of
government—either federal or state government
 Agencies (e.g. IRS, EPA, & FAA) establish rules and
regulations after being given mandates by the U.S.
Congress (federal agencies) or state legislatures (state
agencies). These rules and regulations are meant to aid
the agencies in their efforts to meet those legislative
mandates
Finding Statutes
 To find federal laws:
 Use annotated federal statutes, i.e., United States Code
Annotated (USCA) or United States Code Service (USCS)
 Note that the United States Code (USC) is the official
reporter of federal statutes and we always cite to the USC
and NOT the unofficial statutes.
 To find state laws:
 Use annotated state statutes, e.g., Florida Statutes
Annotated or the Official Code of Georgia Annotated
What is an Annotation?
An annotation is a comment or explanation
 Annotations are explanations of statutes, which take the form
of “headnotes,” “historical and statutory notes,” “library
references,” and “notes to decisions.” These are all written by
editors. Thus, they are NOT a part of the official document
created by the legislature.
 Annotations point us to case law that has been rendered with
respect to a particular statute, to scholarly works that discuss
that point of law, and--in the case of West—to “key numbers.”
 Every different key number corresponds to a different narrow
topic of law—these are uniform across all West case
reporters and annotated statutes reporters; thus, giving us an
easy tool to find additional statutes and cases on point.
Never Cite to an Annotation
 Remember: Annotations are NOT a part of the actual
statutory language passed by the legislative body
and, thus, should never be cited to.
Using Annotated Statutes

Before starting your research, determine the terms which you
feel most closely identify the topic for which you are trying to
locate a statute(s).
Ex: Our client is accused of putting a poisonous substance into
the river. We would look up “Poisons” and then look for the
subtopic “Waters and Waterways.” Always work from general to
narrow. The index contains multiple subheadings to help lead
you to the narrow issue at hand. Here, the main issue is the
alleged poisoning.
Using Annotated Statutes

Once you have identified the main topic, go to the index of the
annotated statute set and look for each term. Often the index
will direct you to other terms better-suited for your search.
Ex: Florida’s statutes relating to family law are found in
Title XLIII entitled “Domestic Relations.” However, if you
were to look in the General Index of the Florida Annotated
Statutes under “family law,” the index would ask you to
look under “Domestic Relations.”

The index will lead you to the proper section of the law within
the annotated statute set in which to find the statute(s). You
will notice the section numbers on the spines of the volumes.
Analyzing Results
 Ensure that you have the most current version of the statute
 Check all supplemental volumes. That is, pocket parts (located in
the back-binding of the book) and paper supplements (sometimes
called pamphlets).
 When using the Florida Annotated Statutes, be sure to check the
Interim Annotation Service (paper supplement located on the
shelves prior to the General Index), which updates the pocket
parts.
 Read the “Historical and Statutory Notes” (legislative history)
 Found immediately following the text of the statute
 These tell us when the statute was initially enacted and whether it
has been modified or repealed and, if so, when
Finding Associated Case Law
 Read the case digests that follow the text of the
statute.
 These follow the Historical and Statutory Notes
 Contain brief descriptions of cases that have involved the
narrow point of law covered by that particular statute.
 Once you have case citations, you can easily find the cases
in the appropriate case reporter.
Citing to Federal Statutes
 Always cite to the United States Code (USC), which
is the official reporter of statutes passed by the U.S.
Congress. Cite as follows:
17 U.S.C. § 1201 (2000 & Supp. ? 2001)
 Remember: Use the unofficial or annotated statutes (USCA
or USCS) for researching and finding laws on a topic, but
always cite to the official version of the code.
 Refer to Rule 12 in the Bluebook, if you have any questions.
Citing to Florida Statutes
 The official reporter of FL laws are the “Florida Statutes.” Cite as
follows:
§ 859.01, Fla. Stat. (2003).
Florida Statutes are codified and printed every year.
 In citing to statutory materials which do NOT appear in the official
reporter, one may cite to the annotated versions of the statutes in
the following manner:
§ 857.102, Fla. Stat. Ann. (2000 & Supp. 2004).
Note the way in which the supplement is cited to.
Citing to Other States’ Statutes
 Refer to the Bluebook for the citation formats of other
jurisdictions
 Table T.1 contains each U.S. jurisdiction and its associated
citation rules
 Rule 12 contains a more detailed description of the proper
citation methods used for statutes
The Florida Constitution
 The Florida Constitution is NOT a compilation of
statutes, although it can be found in the Florida
Statutes Annotated.
 The [U.S.] Constitution states that any powers not
specifically given to the federal government are the
responsibility of the state. The details of a state
government's structure and responsibilities are defined by
each state’s constitution.
 Look under “Constitution” in the index of the Florida Statutes
Annotated (and its subtopics) to find the parts of the
document that relate to the topic you are researching.
Citing to the Florida Constitution
 The Florida Constitution is cited as follows:
Art V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
 The first portion before the comma represents the article of the
constitution which one is citing.
 The second portion represents the section within the Article.
 Finally, the last portion stands for the state constitution which is being
cited, here, the Florida Constitution.
Citing to Other State Constitutions
 Since the Florida appellate rules do not set forth model citations
for the constitutions of other states or for the Federal
Constitution.
 Accordingly, the Bluebook provides the proper citation methods.
The constitutions from other states are cited as follows, using
New York and Texas as examples:
N.Y. Const. art. IV, § 7.
Tex. Const. art. II, § 1.
United States Constitution
 The text of the United States Constitution is
contained within the United States Code (USC).
 However, for research purposes, you may want to
use the USCA or USCS, which also contain the text
of the Constitution, as amended, with helpful
annotations.
 As discussed previously, use the index to these
annotated statutes (USCA or USCS). Look under
“Constitution” and find the appropriate subtopic.
Citing to the U.S. Constitution
 Provisions of the Constitution of the United States
should be cited as follows:
U.S. Const. preamble.
U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 3.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
Summary: Finding Laws
 Use the index of an annotated statutes reporter.
 Find related statutes.
 Make sure you are looking at the most recent version of
each statute by checking all of the supplements.
 Read the annotations to obtain the history of the
legislation, citations to scholarly writings on the subject,
and related case law.
 If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact the
Reference Desk either in person, via phone 680-7612, or via email:
refdesk@fcsl.edu