1.6

Finding Statutes with a Citation

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INTRODUCTION

A court opinion, or case, (a kind of "common law") is written by a judge. A statute (a kind of "enacted law") is created by a legislature, either state or federal.

STATUTES: HOW TO FIND THEM


Locating statutes is not difficult, but requires more flexibility than when finding case law. The reason is that the form of statutory citations varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Consider the following two citations:

N.R.S. §145.110

42 U.S.C. §1205

For the first citation, the researcher would find the Nevada Revised Statutes, look for Chapter 145, and section 110. (I know - it looks like the 145 is the section number, but it isn't in this instance!)

The second cite would require the researcher to locate the United States Code, Title 42, Section 1205.

Every state has it's own system, but they are not hard to figure out. Just chill, and roll with the punches.

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Paralegal Persepctive . . .

STATUTES


As a paralegal, one of the most frustrating research tasks was when I had to locate statutes from states other than the one I was in. The reason it was frustrating is that every state seems to have its own system of organizing statutes. Some use chapters and section numbers. Some use titles and section numbers. Some use only section numbers. But once you realize this, and are patient enough, it becomes easier. Take a few minutes to figure out the structure of your statutes. There will usually be two sets of numbers, like 35 C.R.S. 140, or G.S. 35.140. In either case, you would find the volume containing the '35', then locate the '140' within that volume.

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Lecture Notes . . .

How to Locate Statutes


This section will help you learn to find statutory authority. You are taught to read a citation. Later in the Manual, you will learn how to create statutory citations.

The Assignment on the left side of this page provides four citations for you to look up. But knowing what the abbreviations in the citations stand for will be helpful.

U.S.C. stands for United States Code

Iowa Code Annotated stands for . . . Duh! :)

N.R.S. stands for Nevada Revised Statutes

Special Note Regarding U.S.C.


When researching the United States Code, you have three choices: U.S.C. (United States Code), U.S.C.A. (United States Code Annotated), and U.S.C.S. (United States Code Service). You may look the assigned statute up in any of the above. In fact, as we will see later, you would usually prefer to be in U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. But all three publications contain the federal statutes.