LibGuides: Massachusetts Legal Research: Constitution, Statutes, and Codes

Constitution

The text of the Massachusetts Constitution appears in the various editions of the General Laws of Massachusetts, and may be found by checking the index for each edition (see Codes below). It also may be found on the Internet.

Massachusetts Constitution

Session Laws (print)

Acts and Resolves passed by the General Court of Massachusetts
Call Number: Law Massachusetts Collection KFM 2425 .A213
Publication Date: Boston: Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1839-.
These volumes provide the text of all public and private acts passed by the annual sessions of the Massachusetts legislature, officially known as the General Court of the Commonwealth. Coverage for this set is from 1839 to the present.
Massachusetts session laws
Call Number: Microform Room Cabinet 5, Drawers 24-26
A complete collection of Massachusetts session laws, dating back to 1654.

Session Laws (online)

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
The session law database on HeinOnline contains the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves from 1661-2009.
BC Access: Resource is available via computers connected to the BC network. Off-campus access requires a BC username and password, and is available to the BC Community only (current students, faculty and staff.)
Lexis This link opens in a new window
Recent session laws are available through LexisNexis in the legislative services listed under Codes below.
Personal passwords are restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only.

Massachusetts Session Laws
Recent Session Laws and links to older session laws from the state government websites.

Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Westlaw provides an electronic version of session laws from 1987-1995 in the MA-LEGIS-OLD database. Recent session laws are available through Westlaw in the legislative services listed under Codes below. You can also get to older sessions law on Westlaw by typing Massachusetts Historical Enacted Legislation into the go bar and current session laws by typing Massachusetts Enacted Legislation into the go bar.
Personal passwords are restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only.

Statutory Codes (print)

General Laws of Massachusetts (GL), Official edition.
Call Number: Law Massachusetts Collection KFM 2430 199x .A24
The “official” edition of the codified laws of Massachusetts, based upon the 1932 Tercentenary Edition of the General Laws. Like other codes the “official” edition provides a subject arrangement, in 282 chapters, of the laws of general application currently in force. It is not annotated with references to secondary sources and court decisions. A subject index is included at the end of the set.
Annotated Laws of Massachusetts (ALM). 1984-.
Call Number: Law Massachusetts Collection KFM 2430 1932 .A2
An annotated edition of the General Laws, ALM provides a researcher with case law and secondary source references as well as the text of the statutes. It is updated with pocket parts and interim supplements. An Advanced Legislative Service provides coverage of recent session laws not included in the General Laws. A subject index is included at the end of the set.
Massachusetts General Laws Annotated (MGLA). 1958-.
Call Number: Law Massachusetts Collection KFM 2430 1958 .A42
West’s edition of the General Laws includes annotations of secondary source references and court decisions. Updating is through pocket parts and interim supplements, as well as the Massachusetts Legislative Service for recent laws. A subject index is included at the end of the set.
General Laws of Massachusetts
An unofficial, unannotated version is available from the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature).

Statutory Codes (online)

Bloomberg Law (BLAW) This link opens in a new window
This is an unannotated code; links to related code sections are provided.
Registration Required. Register Online.

General Laws on the Mass. state website
The General Laws are also available on the state government website; this is not an annotated code. Check the web site for search tips.

Lexis This link opens in a new window
LexisNexis has an electronic version of the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts and the Advanced Legislative Service.
Personal passwords are restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
An electronic version of the General Laws is available on Westlaw in the MA-ST database.
Westlaw has an electronic version of the Massachusetts General Laws Annotated, in the MA-ST-ANN database. The Massachusetts Legislative Service is available in the MA-LEGIS database.

On Westlaw, you can browse to the Massachusetts code by using the state materials tab.
Personal passwords are restricted by our contract to currently enrolled law students and law faculty only.

Massachusetts Legal Research

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Constitution

Session Laws (print)

Session Laws (online)

Statutory Codes (print)

Statutory Codes (online)