LibGuides: Free Legal Research Resources: Federal Government Sites

GovInfo from GPO

GovInfo This link opens in a new window
Provides access to federal government publications from all three branches of government; a product of the U.S. Government Publishing Office. (Web)
Web: Resource is freely available via the Web.

The U.S. Government Printing Office is replacing FDsys with GovInfo.

U.S. Government Manual
The official handbook of the Federal Government.
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Provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, and boards, commissions, and committees.
Code of Federal Regulations
The codification of the general and permanent rules from the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
United States Code
The codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. GPO Access provides access to browsable versions of the U.S. Code back to 1994.

Regulations

Federal Register 2.0 This link opens in a new window
More readable and browsable than the official Federal Register, this often provides access to regulations and notices even before their official publication date.

Official verions of federal regulations can be found at govinfo, but for a more convenient format try:

e-CFR This link opens in a new window
Browse or search this incredibly current version of the CFR (often more up-to-date than the commercial services).

Congress.gov

Legislative information from the Library of Congress includes bills, resolutions, activity in Congress, Congressional Record, schedules, calendars, committee information, presidential nominations, and treaties. More up-to-date than GPO Access for Congressional actions.

Congress.gov
Legislation from the current Congress. Search by bill number or word/phrase.

Law Revision Counsel

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel prepares and publishes the United States Code, which is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.

U.S. Code This link opens in a new window
This searchable, browsable code comes from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. The advanced search page is extremely functional and helpful for running field searches.

Classification Tables
Find out where recently enacted laws will appear in the United States Code and which sections of the Code have been amended by those laws.

Federal Courts

Court websites often contain some court decisions as well as valuable information about the court.

Court Locator
Links to the websites of the federal courts.
Federal courts can have subject matter or geographical jurisdiction.
United States Supreme Court
Recent decisions, dockets, and information about the Court.
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This site contains PDF files of volumes 502-546 U.S. Reports.

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GovInfo from GPO

Regulations

Congress.gov

Law Revision Counsel

Federal Courts