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Statutory Research

This guide covers the basics of statutory publication, how to find statutes, and how to find interpretive case law. It also touches on 50 state surveys and uniform laws.

Overview

This guide explains:

  • What statutes are and how statutory research fits into a larger research strategy;
  • How and where statutes are published and the difference between official & unofficial versions;
  • How to find case law that interprets statutes;
  • How to update statutory research and how to find historical statutes; and
  • Special statutory sources such as 50 state surveys and collections of uniform and model laws

What Are Statutes?

Statutes are laws enacted by a legislative body (Congress or a state legislature). They are binding on people located within the jurisdictional authority of the legislative body (i.e., everyone in the U.S. has to abide by federal statutes, and people in Florida also have to abide by Florida statutes). While statutes are presumed to be clear as to their meaning, it is usually necessary to consult court decisions to determine how a particular statute is applied within the jurisdiction. This guide will cover how to find that interpretive case law. 

How Are Statutes Published?

Statutes are published in three different forms: slip laws, session laws and codes. Each form provides advantages for different research needs.

  1. Slip laws are individual copies of laws published as soon as they are enacted. For example, this is the slip law for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. 
  2. Session laws are chronological compilations of the laws passed by a particular legislature within each session. The slip law linked above will appear in volume 135 of the U.S. Statutes at Large (the federal session law publication) along with other laws passed in the 117th session of Congress. 
  3. Codes are topical arrangements of all the permanent general laws in force in a particular jurisdiction at a particular point in time. The provisions of the 1000+ page Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 will get slotted into the applicable parts of the U.S. Code (e.g., Title 6 on Domestic Security, Title 15 on Commerce & Trade, Title 23 on Highways, Title 47 on Telecommunications, and Title 49 on Transportation). 

Most statutory legal research is conducted using codes, since they provide the most complete picture of what the law is at a particular time by bringing related provisions together. New provisions and amendments are regularly incorporated, and repealed provisions are removed.