Compiled by Richard J. McKinney
Assistant Law Librarian, Federal Reserve Board
Last revised in June 2006
The U.S. Statutes at Large is a chronological arrangement of all laws enacted by Congress.
The U.S. Code is an updated, subject arrangement of all general and permanent U.S. law so enacted.
Historical Outlines, Explanatory Notes and Lists
Basic Overview on How Federal Laws Are
Published, Organized and Cited [PDF]
How to Find U.S. Statutes and
U.S. Code Citations [PDF] (Fourth Rev. Ed, 1980; Office of the Federal Register)
Positive Law Codification in the United States Code [PDF] (Office of the Law Revision Counsel)
United States Code:
Historical Outline and Explanatory Notes [PDF]
United States Code:
List of Positive Law Titles with Enacting Cites and Location to Revision Notes
[PDF]
United States
Statutes: Historical Outline and Source Notes [PDF]
Unraveling the Mysteries of the U.S. Code: A Q&A [PDF]
U.S. Statutes at
Large: List of Documents and Information Included [PDF]
Tables from
the Law Revision Counsel
and the U.S. Code,
2000 Edition
United
States Code Classification Tables (updates Code - Law Revision Counsel)
United States Code: Table I -
Revised Titles (former sections to new positive law sections
- PDF)
United States Code: Table II -
Revised Statutes (R.S. sections to U.S.C. sections
- PDF)
United States Code: Table III -
Statutes at Large (statute sections to U.S.C. sections; 1930-1935 only
- includes Tariff Act of 1930, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Social Security Act
and many more - PDF)
United States Code: Table IV -
Executive Orders (Order No. to location in U.S.C. notes
- PDF)
United States Code: Table V -
Proclamations of the President (Proclamation No. to location in U.S.C. notes
- PDF)
United States Code: Table VI -
Reorganization Plans (Reorg. Plan No. to location in U.S.C. notes
- PDF)
Electronic Sources for U.S.
Statutes and the
U.S. Code
Cornell's Legal
Information Institute - U.S. Code and Popular Name Table
- Has effective date in January within 1 to 3 years of current date. Disregard
release dates. Can search, browse, cite and link to individual sections. Also has a
popular name table that links to many U.S. Code cites.
Findlaw -
U.S. Code and Popular
Name Table
- The effective date is shown on the top right of each page which is in January
within 1 to 3 years of current date. Can search, browse, cite and link to individual
sections. Also has a popular name table. Beware that the notes area of a USC section may be incomplete.
GPO Access - U.S. Code
and Public Laws (U.S. Government Printing Office)
- 2000 Edition, Supplement II of Code effective as of January 6, 2003. Can search, browse, and link to individual
sections. Also has a searchable and browseable Public and Private Laws database that
includes PDF files from 1995 of all U.S. statutes.
HeinOnline has digital U.S. Statutes At Large (not word searchable).
Law
Revision Counsel, Office of the - U.S. Code (official
compilers and publishers of the U.S. Code
in the U.S. House of Representatives)
- The effective date is shown on the top right of each page which is in January
within 1 to 3 years of the current date. Has Word files for whole chapters of titles not
for individual sections, but can get just the section by cite method. Can search or browse.
For popular names of law search as in example "Jones Act" AND "Popular
Names".
LexisNexis - U.S. Code and
U.S. Statutes at Large (subscription or credit card
service)
- Has an updated Code (USCS) and back years from 1992 (files US1992, US1994, etc.).
Updates may take a few weeks. Can search or browse. Also has a popular name table (file
GENFED;USNAME) from 1789 with cites to amendments and links to Code cites of some of those
amendments. Has U.S. Statutes at Large from 1789 (in PDF, not directly searchable)
available by citation method and a searchable public law file from 1988.
Library
of Congress - U.S. Statutes at Large and Public Laws via THOMAS service
- Covers the years 1789-1873; browseable but not directly searchable; part of
Library's American Memory Project. Though THOMAS service on Congress has the text of
public laws back to 1989 (enrolled bill version) and information about laws back to 1973.
LoisLaw.com - U.S. Code
(subscription service)
Has current U.S. Code - searchable and browseable.
Potomac Publishing
Company - U.S. Statutes at Large (subscription service)
- From 1789 to Present; PDF copies of statutes. It is the only early statutes that is word searchable.
Also on Lexis, but not word searcable
The Law.net - U.S. Code
(subscription service)
- Has current U.S. Code - searchable and browseable.
VersusLaw.com - U.S. Code
(subscription service)
- Has current U.S. Code - searchable and browseable.
Westlaw - U.S. Code and U.S.
Statutes at Large (subscription or credit card service
)
- Has an updated Code (USCA) from 1990 (see files USCA90, USCA94, etc. and a new
"effective date" sevice from 1996). Updates may take a few weeks. Can search or
browse. Also has a popular name index (file USCA-POP) from 1789 with breakdown links to
USCA cites and public law numbers of recent laws. Has a new U.S. Statutes at
Large premium service from 1789 to 1972 (not word searcable) and a public law file (USCCAN-PL) from 1973.
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Compiled and
Maintained by Rick McKinney,
Assistant Law Librarian, Federal Reserve Board
