Introduction

A statute is a written law enacted by a legislature. The statutes you will deal with most frequently in United States law are federal and state statutes. There are also local (i.e., city or county) statutes, usually called ordinances.

When a bill is passed by the legislature, a statute is issued in a form called a slip law. The slip laws of a session of the legislature are collected in a chronological publication known as session laws. Finally, the laws are arranged by subject in a code. Codes are kept up-to-date by pocket parts and supplements. There are both federal and state versions of each of these three forms.

If you have a citation to a statute, it should be easy to find in print or electronically. If you don't have a citation, you may be able to find a statute by using a popular name table. Otherwise, use the subject index to the jurisdiction's code, which is nearly always found in the last volume(s) of the code. It is also possible to search the full text of federal or state statutes online using Lexis or Westlaw. For most jurisdictions, current statutes are also available for free on the web, although this approach is best if you have either a citation or some exact language from the statute. Ask a reference librarian for more information.

Our Statutes Tutorial has additional information about federal and state statutes.

Federal Statutes

Federal statutes are issued by Congress in slip law form immediately after they become law. Federal laws are available on the web, Lexis, and Westlaw immediately after they are passed by Congress. Next, the laws of a session of Congress are issued in printed volumes called "session laws." The official version of the session laws is called the United States Statutes at Large. Another version of the session laws is a series called the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.). Finally, federal statutes are officially codified in the United States Code, abbreviated U.S.C. The U.S. Code also comes in two annotated versions called the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.), and the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.). The unofficial versions come out much more quickly than the official versions, and contain notes, references and certain other features which are designed to make them easier to use. However, in scholarly and court documents, you must cite to the official version, provided it has the current text of the statute. See your Bluebook for further information.

State Statutes

States also issue slip laws, session laws, and codes in print. State laws are available on Lexis and Westlaw shortly after they are passed by the state legislature. In addition, most states have recent session laws and the state codes on the web. Some states have both an official version and unofficial code. Others have only one version.

Citations

Here are some examples of statutes that you might encounter as you do your research. For complete listings for each state, use the blue pages of your Bluebook.

Federal

Selected States