Legal Research for the Legal Assistant:

How to Find Statutes(Federal & New York)

Janice E. Henderson, Esq., M.L.S.

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Federal Statute Research:How A Law Is Made

A proposed law may be introduced into either chamber of the Congress as a bill or a joint resolution.

The bill/joint resolution is printed and referred to one or more committees for review.

Published in Congressional Record:◦ http://thomas.loc.gov/ (From 101st Congress

(1989))◦ http://beta.congress.gov/congressional-record

(From 1985, vol. 141), or ◦ http://www.gpoaccess.gov (Scattered years

from 1968)

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Federal Statute Research: Bills

Bills are given a number.◦ House of Representatives: H.R. 1◦ Senate: S. 1

Types of BillsPublic Bills

◦ Public bills pertain to matters that affect the general public or classes of citizens

Private Bills◦ Private bills affect just certain individuals and

organizations.

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Federal Statute Research:Bills to Laws

When a bill is passed in identical form by both the Senate and the House, it is sent to the president for his signature.

Different Bill VersionsJoint Conference

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Federal Statute Research:Bill Becomes Law

Bill is sent to the President.President can either:

Sign the bill and make it law.Veto the bill.

◦If Congress is still in session the original House can override a veto by the required two-thirds vote.

◦If the other House also overrides the veto with two-thirds vote, the bill becomes law.

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Federal Statute Research: Law

After the bill is signed into law it is now given a public law number.◦Example: P.L. 109-1

The official publication for public laws is: United States Statutes at Large. It’s abbreviation is: Stat.◦It also contains concurrent resolutions,

reorganization plans, proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution, and proclamations by the President.

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Federal Statute Research:Public Law

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Federal Statute Research: Federal Statutes

OfficialUnited States Code (U.S.C.)

Unofficial United States Code Annotated

(U.S.C.A.) – Thomson-WestUnited States Code Service

(U.S.C.S.) - LexisNexis

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Title 1, General Provisions Title 2, The Congress Title 3, The President Title 4, Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States Title 5, Government Organization and Employees; and Appendix Title 6, Domestic Security Title 7, Agriculture Title 8, Aliens and Nationality Title 9, Arbitration Title 10, Armed Forces; and Appendix Title 11, Bankruptcy; and Appendix Title 12, Banks and Banking Title 13, Census Title 14, Coast Guard Title 15, Commerce and Trade Title 16, Conservation Title 17, Copyrights Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure; and Appendix Title 19, Customs Duties Title 20, Education Title 21, Food and Drugs Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse Title 23, Highways Title 24, Hospitals and Asylums Title 25, Indians

Title 26, Internal Revenue Code; and Appendix Title 27, Intoxicating Liquors Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure; and Appendix Title 29, Labor Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining Title 31, Money and Finance Title 32, National Guard Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters Title 34, Navy (Repealed) Title 35, Patents Title 36, Patriotic Societies and Observances Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services Title 38, Veterans' Benefits; and Appendix Title 39, Postal Service Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works Title 41, Public Contracts Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare Title 43, Public Lands Title 44, Public Printing and Documents Title 45, Railroads Title 46, Shipping; and Appendix Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions Title 49, Transportation Title 50, War and National Defense; and Appendix

United States Code Titles

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United States Code Annotated

How to Use this Title

General Subject Index Individual Title index Popular Name Table Classification Table:

http://uscode.house.gov/classification/tables.shtml

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United States Code Annotated

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United States Code Annotated:Updating Statute

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Federal Statute Research: Resources for Laws

Congressional Record (Cong. Rec.): Contains the bills and debates.

Statutes at Large (Stat.): Contains the slip laws.

United States Code Congressional & Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.): Contains the public laws.

United States Code (U.S.C.): Contains the laws broken into topics.

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Federal Statute Research: Electronic Resources for Laws

GPO Access: www.gpoaccess.comThomas: http://thomas.loc.gov Congress.com:

http://beta.congress.gov House of Representatives:

http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml;jsessionid=5996109342EFFEEC003B9D9E7D340C7C

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Federal Statute Research:Legislative History

Committee HearingsDebatesCommittee ReportsBills and/or Law

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Federal Statute Research:Legislative History

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Federal Statute Research:Legislative History Resources

Congressional Record contains debates and the senator’s and representative’s comments.

U.S.C.C.A.N. contains major Congressional Committee Reports, Presidential Signing Statements and Proclamations, Executive Orders, Reorganization Plans, President’s Messages, Federal Regulations for the U.S. Federal government, Proposed Constitutional Amendments, Federal Court Rules and Sentencing Guidelines.

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Federal Statute Research:Legislative History Resources

Committee Reports: http://thomas.loc.gov/cp109/cp109query.html

House of Representative Committee Hearings: http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/

Senate Committee Hearings: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/senate11sh.html

Hearings for Both Houses: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/index.html

Congress.com: http://beta.congress.gov/committees

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New York State Statute Research

Bills◦Senate, ex. S.00001◦Assembly, ex. A.00001

Once signed by the Governor the bill will become a law.◦Ch. 1 of 2006

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New York State Statutes

McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York (Thomson-West)

McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York – Consolidated Edition (Thomson-West)

Consolidated Laws of New York (LexisNexis)

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New York State:Statute Research Resources

New York State Legislature: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi

New York State Assembly:◦ Bills: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/ ◦ Laws:

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS

New York State Senate: http://www.nysenate.gov/open

New York Legislative Bill Jackets (from 1995): http://iarchives.nysed.gov/PubImageWeb/listCollections.jsp?id=68007

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New York State Legislative History Resources

Bill JacketNew York Legislative AnnualNew York City Legislative Annual

Electronic:New York Legislative Bill Jackets

(from 1995 to 2011): http://iarchives.nysed.gov/PubImageWeb/listCollections.jsp?id=68007

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New York City Legislation

New York City Council is the legislative body for New York City.

Once a bill is signed by the Mayor it becomes a local law.◦Local Law 4 of 2006

NYC Council Website: http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Legislation.aspx

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New York City LegislationLOCAL LAWS

OF

THE CITY OF NEW YORK

FOR THE YEAR 2006

No. 4

Introduced by Council Members Addabbo Jr., Nelson, Seabrook and Stewart (by request

of the Mayor).

A LOCAL LAWTo amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to members ofthe fire department who formerly served as police officers.Be it enacted by the Council as follows:Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 15-111 of the administrative codeof the city of New York, as amended by chapter 645 of the laws of 1998, is amended toread as follows:(1) Any member of the uniformed force of the fire department, who immediatelyprior to his or her appointment or employment as such, has served or shall have served asa member of the police force of the police department, shall have the time served by suchmember in such police department counted as service in the fire department indetermining his or her [compensation, promotion,] retirement and pension in suchdepartment as herein or otherwise provided, upon condition that he or she shallcontribute to the appropriate fire department pension fund a sum equal to the amountwhich he or she would have been required to contribute had the time served in thepolice department been served in the fire department.§2. This local law shall take effect immediately and shall apply to persons who jointhe uniformed force of the fire department on or after the effective date.THE CITY OF NEW YORK, OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK, s.s.:I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of a local law of the City of NewYork, passed by the Council on April 5, 2006 and approved by the Mayor on April 10,2006.VICTOR L. ROBLES, City Clerk of the Council

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New York City Legislation

New York City Charter◦http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSE

AF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLNYC+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=BROWSER+&TOKEN=48844505+&TARGET=VIEWNew

New York City Administrative Code◦http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSE

AF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=@LLADC+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=BROWSER+&TOKEN=48844505+&TARGET=VIEW

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The End