Finding Federal & State The William S. Richardson School of Law Library – University of Hawai`i at Mānoa Updated March 2007

How to locate a Federal

1. Finding a Public Law

After a law in enacted by Congress, it is assigned a public law number: For example: P.L. 105-62. This citation means: the 62nd public law passed by the 105th Congress. Public laws are published in United States Statutes at Large [KF50 .A15]. The public laws are listed in chronological order for each Congressional session. Each volume of has its own subject index and popular name index.

2. Finding a Federal Statute by Citation

Public laws are eventually “codified,” by being placed, by subject, into the [KF62 .A2]. Laws listed in the United States Code are given a new citation. For example: 38 U.S.C. § 101 (2000) This means: Title 38 of the United States Code, Section 101, and enacted in the year 2000.

3. Finding a Federal Statute by Subject

Consult the United States Code [KF62 .A2] The United States Code organizes the statutes by subject (called titles). Using the United States Code General Index, look for your subject topic. The index will give a citation, for example: 38 § 101. This means: Title 38, Section 101 of the Code.

4. Finding a Federal Statute by Name

Many laws are given “Act” names, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Consult Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name (the “Acts” section) [KF90 .S52]. In the “Acts” section, popular names of laws are listed in alphabetical order with citations to the specific law.

Usually, the given citation is to the United States Code [KF62 .A2]; however the citation will be for the Statutes at Large [KF50 .A15] if the public law is uncodified at the time of publication in Shepard's.

How to locate a State Statute

Each state has it’s own published Code, which are listed on the back of this guide. For example: HRS § 425-18(2)(A). This means: Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section (“Chapter”) 425, Number 18, Subsection 2A Locate the volume number that includes your citation chapter or section to find the statute. Each state code will also contain a subject index to find a statute by subject.

If you need further assistance, please ask for a Librarian! States & Territories: Current Statutory Codes The William S. Richardson School of Law Library – University of Hawai`i at Mānoa Updated August 2006

If you need help finding a Statute, please ask a Librarian!

Call Number Range Call Number Range Lexis New Hampshire Revised AL Michie’s Alabama Code Ann. KFA 30.A26 62 NH KFN 1230.A2 65 Statutes Ann. AK Alaska Statutes (Ann.) KFA 1229.A43 62 NJ New Jersey Statutes Ann. KFN 1830.A5 65 AZ Ann. KFA 2430.A5 62 NM New Mexico Statutes 1978 Ann. KFN 3630.A2 65 AR Arkansas Code of 1987 Ann. KFA 3630.A3 62 McKinney's Consolidated Laws of NY KFN 5030.A5 65-66 CA West's Ann. KFC 30.A44 62 New York Colorado Revised Statutes 2003 General Statutes of North Carolina CO KFC 1830 62 NC KFN 7430.A5 66 Ann. Ann. CT Connecticut General Statutes Ann. KFC 3630.A43 63 ND North Dakota Century Code Ann. KFN 8630.A5 66 DE Delaware Code Ann. 2001 Ed. KFD 30.A24 63 OH Page's Revised Code Ann. KFO 30.A45 67 Lexis D.C. (District of Columbia) DC KFD 1230.A22 63 OK Oklahoma Statutes Ann. KFO 1230.A5 67 Code Ann. 2001 Ed. OR 2005 KFO 2430.A5 67 FL West's Ann. KFF 30.A2 63 Purdon's Pennsylvania PA KFP 30.A5 67 GA Official Code of Georgia Ann. KFG 30.A24 63 (Consolidated) Statutes Ann. 63, Ref. General Laws of Rhode Island HI Hawaii Revised Statutes (Ann.) KFH 30.A23 RI KFR 30.A5 67 & Res. (Ann.) Michie’s Hawaii Revised Statutes Ref. & Code of Laws of South Carolina HI KFH 30.A4 SC KFS 1830.A23 67 Ann. Res. (Ann.) SD South Dakota Codified Laws KFS 3030.A23 67 ID Idaho Code (Ann.) KFI 30.A5 64 TN Tennessee Code Ann. KFT 30.A25 67 West's Smith-Hurd Illinois IL KFI 1230.A4 64 Compiled Statutes Ann. TX Vernon's Texas Codes Ann. KFT 1230.5 V4 67 UT Utah Code Ann. KFU 30.A23 67 IN Burn's Indiana Statutes Ann. KFI 3030.A43 65 VT Vermont Statutes Ann. KFV 30.A23 67 IA Iowa Code Ann. KFI 4230.A5 65 KS Kansas Statutes Ann. KFK 30.A25 65 VA Code of 1950 (Ann.) KFV 2430.A25 67 West's Revised Code of Baldwin's Kentucky Revised KFK WA KFW 30.A5 67 KY 65 Washington Ann. Statutes Ann. 1230.A234 WV Michie's Code Ann. KFW 1230.A45 67 LA West's Louisiana Statutes Ann. KFL 30.W4 65 WI West's Wisconsin Statutes Ann. KFW 2430.A5 67 ME Maine Revised Statutes Ann. KFM 30.A15 65 WY Wyoming Statues Ann. KFW 4230.A4 67 MD Michie's Ann. Code of Maryland KFM 1230.A5 65 MA Massachusetts General Laws Ann. KFM 2430.A5 65 KFM 4230 PR Laws of Puerto Rico Ann. KGV 40 65 MI Michigan Compiled Laws Ann. 65 .A465 VI Virgin Islands Code Ann. KGZ 9.2 65 MN Ann. KFM 5430.A5 65 AS American Samoa Code Ann. KVH 1.9 SPEC MS Mississippi Code 1972 Ann. KFM 6630.A23 65 GU Guam Code Ann. KVQ 1.9 SPEC Vernon's Ann. Missouri Federated States of Micronesia MO KFM 7830.A5 65 FM KVS 501.9 F42 SPEC Statutes Code Ann. KFM 9030 MT Montana Code Ann. 2005 65 MH Marshall Islands Revised Code KVS 1.9 SPEC .A216 Northern Mariana Islands NE Revised Statutes of Nebraska (Ann.) KFN 30.A25 65 MP KWC 1.9 SPEC Commonwealth Code West’s NV KFN 630.A452 65 PW Palau National Code Ann. KWG 1.9 SPEC Ann.