• Wilson Library, Haggard 2
• U.S. Government Depository
• 500,000 U.S., Washington, and Canadian publications
• Most post-1976 publications in the Online Catalog

• Studying a Federal Statute
  

  A suggested method for studying a federal law.

• Finding the Law: U.S. Federal Law
  A guide to finding information about U.S. federal laws, regulations, and court decisions, in Western Libraries.

• Timeline for Studying Federal Laws / Rob Lopresti
  This timeline lists resources for finding information about a federal law's past, present, and future.

Who creates what?

• The legislative branch (Congress or the state Legislature) passes laws, which are also called acts, or statutes.
• The executive (administrative) branch creates regulations, which are also called rules.
• The head of the executive branch (president or governor) creates executive orders, and proclamations, which are not the same thing.
• The judicial branch creates decisions which are also called rulings. If several judges are involved (such as with an appeals court) their individual statements are opinions.

Amendments are confusing:

• An amendment to the Constitution is a formally-enacted change to that document.
• An amendment to a bill is a proposed change in the wording of a bill (which is a proposed law).
• But an amendment to a law is made by the creation of a different law. For example, since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed it has been amended by more than 30 laws. One was called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1991, but others have names that don't give you a clue that they change IDEA (e.g. the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.) All of the amendments are listed in the Popular Name Table of the United States Code Annotated.

• LexisNexis Congressional
  The LexisNexis Congressional service provides users with access to the most comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information available anywhere online. This collection includes the full text of congressional publications, finding aids, a bill tracking service, and the full text of public laws and other research materials to enable both novice and experienced researchers to complete many types of research projects. Since Congress is interested in all public policy, social, and economic issues, the database is an effective source for general research in many academic disciplines, in addition to research related to specific legislative proposals and laws. The database also contains information about individual members of congress and congressional committees.

• Statutes at Large
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. AE 2.111:
  • Check Catalog
  The laws of the U.S. federal government, arranged chronogically. Pre-1964 volumes are in the Government Information microfiche under GS 4.111: The 1789-1875 volumes are online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsllink.html

• HeinOnline
  HeinOnline is a legal research collection that features full-text searching of the complete historical run of scholarly legal and criminal justice periodicals. Other sources covered in full-text include published and unpublished treaties; The Federal Register (1936-present), U.S. Supreme Court Reports, and U.S. Attorney General Opinions. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations CFR)is available full-text from inception in 1938 through the 1983 edition. Site License.

• Thomas
  Thomas is the Library of Congress's guide to Congressional activities. It contains the text and status of bills and laws, in some cases back to the 1970s. It also has the text of the Congressional Record back to 1989. It has information on Congressional committees back to 1995.

• United States Code / United States House of Representatives
  The current laws of the United States federal government, arranged by subject. They are fully searchable on the web.

• United States Code Annotated / West Pub. Co
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. Y 4.J 89/1:Un 3/3/West/
  • Check Catalog
  The current federal laws of the United States, arranged by subject. The West Corporation has added annotations about history and court cases to the official publication.

• Congressional Quarterly Almanac
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. Xc:
  • Dates covered: 1958- present
  • Check Catalog
  A non-partisan report on the most important activities that took place in Congress in a given year. It summarizes the activities that led to a bill beciming law, and reports how each legislator voted on every roll call vote.

• Congressional Information Service
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. GP 3.6/70:
  • Dates covered: 1970-present
  • Check Catalog
  CIS is an index to publications of Congress, including laws, hearings, reports, documents and prints. It does not index bills, nor the Congressional Record.

• Federal register
  Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

• HeinOnline
  HeinOnline is a legal research collection that features full-text searching of the complete historical run of scholarly legal and criminal justice periodicals. Other sources covered in full-text include published and unpublished treaties; The Federal Register (1936-present), U.S. Supreme Court Reports, and U.S. Attorney General Opinions. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations CFR)is available full-text from inception in 1938 through the 1983 edition. Site License.

• Code of Federal Regulations / United States. Office of the Federal Register
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. AE 2.106/3:
  The current rules and regulations of the executive branch of the United States federal government. Title 3 contains the president's executive orders and proclamations.

• Washington State Legislature
  The official website of the Washington state legislature.

• Laws of Washington
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. Docs Wa 340 W279
  • Check Catalog
  The laws of Washigton state in chronological order. Warning: these laws appear as the read when passed. To see how they read now use the Revised Code of Washington.

• Washington State session laws / Washington State Legislature
  The laws of Washington state arranged chronologically back to 1997. Warning: These laws appear as they read when created. To see the current status, look in the Revised Code of Washington.

• Revised Code of Washington
  • Location: Haggard 2-Gov Information Docs Wa 340 W279r
  • Check Catalog
  The official statement of the current laws of the state of Washington, arranged by subject.

• Revised Code of Washington Annotated
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. Docs WA 340 W279ra
  • Check Catalog
  The current laws of Washington state, arranged by subject. The West Corporation has added annotations about history and court cases to the official publication.

• Washington State register. / Washington. Office of the Code Reviser
  • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. Docs Wa 344 W279wsr
  • Check Catalog
  The state equivalent of the Federal Register, the WSR lists all proposed and final rules and regulations of agencies in the state executive branch. Final rules and regulations later appear in the Washington Administrative Code.

• Washington Administrative Code / Washington (State). Office of the Code Reviser.
  • Location: Haggard 2-Gov Information Docs Wa 344 W279w
  The WACs are the rules and regulations created by the executive branch of the Washington state government.

• Washington Speech and Hearing Association

• Washington State Board of Hearing and Speech

• USA.gov
  The official search engine for searching federal websites.

• Google U.S. Government Search
  Google's search engine for federal, state, and local government websites.

• Find-it! Washington / Washington State Library
  An online search tool developed to help citizens find government information. Web documents from around the state, government publications available at public and state libraries, and government information and services maintained by the State Dept. of Information Services are included.

• Washlaw Web / Washburn University School of Law Library
  Washburn University's extensive guide to legal websites. It has directories for each state, law schools, judges, etc.