Law Journal Resources

A guide for law journal editors and staffers to cite checking.

Locating Statutes

Use the following resources to locate the United States Code:

1. Govinfo (coverage: 1994 - 2018)

2. HeinOnline's U.S. Code database (coverage: 1925 - 2018). After clicking on U.S. Code, select United States Code to access the U.S.C. To access early federal codes predating the U.S.C. (before 1925), please select Early Federal Codes & Compilation of Statutes. 

On HeinOnline, select "US Code" to access the USC.

3. The print version of U.S.C. is also available in the law library (Reading Room / KF62 .C64). The main volume is published in every six years, with the most recent edition published in 2018. Please check the supplements to see if your section has been updated. For example, if you are locating 17 U.S.C. 110 (2014) , then you need to check the supplements to the 2012 edition to see if the section had any updates since the 2012 main edition.

Use the following resources to locate state codes such as the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS).

1. State codes are available in the library.

  • NRS (both current and historical) is available in the Reserve Room and the Reference area. 
  • Codes from other states are available in the Reading Room.

2. State codes are also available electronically on the state legislature website.

3. Historical state codes (i.e. really old state codes predating the current state code) are available on HeinOnline's State Statutes: A Historical Archive database.

Select "State Statutes: A Historical Archive" on HeinOnline to access historical state codes.

When a federal law is enacted, it is first published as a slip law. You may see a citation including the abbreviation Pub. L. This refers to a slip law. The numbers following the abbreviation indicates the Congress and the order in which the Congress enacted the law.

  • Example: The Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act, after it was enacted, received the public law citation Pub.L. 109-478. This is the 478th law enacted by the 109th Congress. 

The slip laws are then published in a publication titled Statutes at Large in a chronological order. The chronological publication of enacted laws is known as session laws. The citation for federal session laws include the abbreviation Stat.

  • Example: The Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act has the session law citation 120 Stat. 3573. The citation indicates that the act is published in volume 120, page 3573, of Statutes at Large. 

The session laws are then codified into the United States Code. The USC is the topical arrangement of enacted laws. 

  • The Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act is codified into 45 U.S.C. § 231a.

State laws also go through a similar process:

  • The enacted laws are chronologically published.
    • In Nevada, Statutes of Nevada is the chronological publication of enacted laws. 
  • The laws are also arranged topically.
    • In Nevada, the Nevada Revised Statutes is the topical arrangement of enacted laws.

Use the following resources to locate Federal slip laws and session laws:

  • Congress.gov 

    • Full-text of slip laws available from 1995 (the 104th Congress) -to present

  • Govinfo

    • Coverage: 1951 - 2013

  • HeinOnline's U.S. Statutes at Large database.

    • Coverage: 1789 - 2012

    • Use Congress.gov to locate the federal laws enacted after 2013. 

 

Use HeinOnline to locate state session laws:

  1. Go to HeinOnline and select Session Laws Library database.
  2. Select State Session Laws
  3. In the Quick Locator box, enter your state, year, and chapter number.

Select Session Laws Library and then State Session Laws.

 

Use the Quick Locator to retrieve your session law.