United States Code (USC): Arranged topically with 51 titles, there are two annotated versions of the United States Code, United States Code Annotated (USCA—burgundy in color) and United States Code Service (USCS—black). They are produced by different publishers and can differ in the annotations they provide, so it’s a good idea to check both sets.
Some statutes dealing with Indians can be found in Title 25, for example. Other statutes may be found elsewhere—use the index volumes at the end of the set to find what you need, or there are volumes listing acts by popular name (Civil Rights Act of 1964, etc.) We keep copies of both sets in the Law South stacks.
Federal statutory and legislative material can also be found online in the following places:
State codes: Annotated state codes work very much like the federal codes, but may have a different topical organization. For example, in Ohio, statutes dealing with conservation of natural resources are contained in Title 15 of the Ohio Revised Code. The Taggart Law Library has state codes for all 50 states in the state materials section on the south side.
Fifty-state surveys track a single topic across the statutes (or regulations) of all 50 states. They usually take the form of a state-by-state table or chart containing the citations to the laws on the given topic in each state, but generally contain little-to-no analysis. A 50-State Survey will not be available for all topics, but, if there is one, it can serve as a valuable starting point when conducting multi-jurisdictional research on a topic. Check each of the below sources to see if there is a 50-state-survey already compiled for your topic. (Note the date of any 50-state-surveys you find; some updating may be required.)
Under Content Type, go to Secondary Sources, and then 50-State-Surveys. You can also find "Jurisdictional Surveys" listed under the "Tools" tab.
Begin to type "50 State Surveys…" and select "LexisNexis® 50-State Surveys, Statutes & Regulations" when it appears below in suggested results.
Check the "National Survey of State Laws" and the "Subject Compilation of State Laws."
Note that you can sometimes find multi-state surveys or multi-state issue-trackers online. For example, the National Conference of State Legislatures also often has multi-state surveys for statutes or legislation (bill-tracking, etc.) on select topics.
The following is a list of places to check if looking for the codes, ordinances, bylaws, or measures of a specific locality or municipality.
A three-part citation format tells you where to find a statute in the code for your jurisdiction:
| Title Number | Name of Code | Section Number |
| 42 | U.S.C. | § 1983 |
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