State Statutes

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State Statutes

• Introduction to Legal Research Section 6

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Researching Statutes in Print

• Slip Laws separately paginated not indexed
• Session Laws permanent publication of statutes,
  published in chronological sequence
• Codes public general statutes of a
  jurisdiction, currently in effect, arranged by
  subject

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Slip Laws

• Separately paginated document or pamphlet
• Not indexed
• May find on the Internet

4
Session Laws

• The chronological publication of statutes passed
  by a legislature during a specific session.

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Session Laws

• Permanent publication of statutes, in
  chronological sequence
• Issued during or at end of legislative session
• Might be published as part of a commercial
  advance legislative service
• Indexed by session only (each volume has its own
  index no master or general subject index to
  the entire set)
• May find on the Internet

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• Georgia Laws the title of Georgias session law
  publication. Hardcopy extends as far back as
  1829, and Mercer Law Library has them all,
  shelved in the Georgia collection.
• This past year, GALILEO, http//www.galileo.usg.ed
  u digitized the entire set of Georgia Laws, and
  they are all now available online.

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When would you use a session law publication?

• Session laws are useful for historical research.
• Example You have found a 1998 case on point. The
  main issue revolves around a Georgia code
  section. That code section was amended in 2004.
  Does the 2004 amendment weaken your reliance on
  the 1998 case? You will have to compare the code
  sections, the one that was in effect in 1998, and
  the current code section incorporating the new
  amendment.
• You can go to Georgia Laws to read the 1998
  version.

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• Session law publications are also useful for
  learning the exact language of a statute section
  when passed and the way in which the language
  has changed over the years since.
• Session laws show you the context in which the
  relevant statute section was passed, because they
  allow you to look at all other statute sections
  passed at the same time, as part of the same act.
  
• Session law publications contain statutes that
  will not be codified. Some statutes passed by a
  legislature affect only certain persons or groups
  (sometimes called private laws, or local and
  special laws
• Examples city charters, commendations,
  establishing a board of education, condolences,
  50th anniversaries, and so on.

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Timing of a state legislatures session

• The Georgia General Assembly meets for 40 days,
  beginning the second Monday in January and
  usually completes its session each year by
  mid-March. Sometimes the Georgia General Assembly
  will meet in Special sessions or Extraordinary
  sessions, usually in the summer.
• Georgia statutes become effective July 1st,
  unless otherwise indicated.
• No matter what state jurisdiction you are
  researching, you will need to determine the time
  in which a state legislature meets for updating
  purposes.

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Codes

• Codes are sets of statutes currently in effect in
  a jurisdiction, organized by subject.

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Codes

• Public general statutes of a jurisdiction,
  currently in effect arranged by subject
• Incorporate amendments and repeals
• May be annotated or unannotated (most
  jurisdictions have at least 1 annotated code)
• Master (general) subject index
• Most states have unannotated codes on the Internet

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Official vs. Unofficial

• Official code is published by or under authority
  of the state.
• Unofficial code is not published by or under
  authority of the state.
• What source might you use to determine your
  jurisdictions official code?
• ALWD, Appendix 1, or Bluebook, Table 1

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Annotated Codes

• annotations of some relevant cases
• Research references which may include cites to
  administrative code sections and decisions, AG
  opinions, legislative history materials, useful
  secondary sources like ALR annotations and law
  review articles, and, depending on which code set
  you use, West topics and key numbers
• Historical notes
• Tables, including comparative tables
• Other features - Annotated U.S. and State
  Constitutions Court Rules

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Numbering systems vary

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated
• Three parts Title, Chapter, Section
• Public Drunkenness O.C.G.A. 16-11-41
• Title 16 Crimes and Offenses
• Chapter 11 Offenses against public order and
  safety
• Section 41 Public drunkenness
• But section is referred to using all three
  components
• TITLE is NOT same as volume number.
• ALWD and Bluebook mistakenly use Ga. Code Ann.
  instead of O.C.G.A.

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Other numbering systems

• Unofficial Code of Georgia Annotated (Harrison
  code, now defunct publisher used different
  numbering scheme than OCGA)
• 26-2607
• Title 26 Criminal Code of Georgia
• Chapter 26-26 Disorderly conduct and
• Section 2607 Public drunkenness
• Examples of other state numbering systems
• Fla. Stat. Ann. 856.011
• Va. Code Ann. 18.2-388
• Ark. Code Ann. 5-71-212
• Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. 525.100 (KRS)

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Process

• Find
• Read
• Update

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Finding Statutes in a Code

• General Index
• Title Index
• Popular Name Table (Short Title Index in O.C.G.A.
• Reference from another source, e.g. a secondary
  source or a reference in a court opinion.

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Reading statutes

• Text
• History line
• Enacted or effective date
• Default effective dates
• Context look at other sections in chapter and
  title

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Updating Codes

• Both the statute and the annotations are updated
• Pocket parts
• Pamphlets

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Further updated by . . .

• Advance Legislative Service
• Text of changes to statutes after publication of
  pocket part or supp. pamphlet
• Advance Annotation Service
• Supplements annotations and research references
• Arranged in chronological order (use Table of
  Sections Affected) or by code section

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When an annotated code is your starting point

• Find and read judicial decisions
• Find and read secondary authority
• Use citation to find discussion of your code
  section in secondary sources by using a Table of
  Statutes or Table of Authorities in the secondary
  source, if there is a table!

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Other resources

• Constitutions U.S. and state
• Court rules
• Index to local and special laws, Volume 42 (OCGA
  references Georgias session law publication
  called Georgia Laws)

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FINDLAW

• http//www.findlaw.com