State Regulations
 

Library Research Guide

Series #9

Compiled by
Bobbi A. Weaver

Reference Librarian

California Western School of Law

Rev. Oct. 2006

SCOPE: This research guide is not all-inclusive. It does, however, present resources available at the California Western library and online to research state regulations.  It is designed to provide the researcher with guidance as to the location of materials dealing with this subject. Additional research can be conducted using the KIM system, legal periodical indexes, and other finding aids. Access to Lexis, Westlaw, and the Internet is limited to students and faculty at California Western. We welcome suggestions for improvements to this and other research guides. Please consult the Reference Librarian with suggestions and further research questions.

I.   GETTING STARTED

State regulations are laws which are enacted by state administrative agencies.  An administrative agency may only enact regulations if those regulations are limited to a specific subject, if it has been authorized to do so by the state’s legislature, and if it has held hearings and invited public comment on those regulations.  Doing research on state regulations can be rather challenging. The following is a list of sources which should help you locate some state regulatory materials.  

Books

Nyberg, Cheryl Rae. Subject Compilations of State Laws : An Annotated Bibliography.  Westport, Conn.:  Greenwood Press, 1981- .
Location: Reference
Call No.: KF 1.S92

This book is issued every year, and is arranged alphabetically by subject.  Under each subject heading, there is a list of law review articles and books addressing that subject which have been published in the past year.  These articles and books might discuss state regulations, or include citations where you can find regulatory text.  Each article or book citation is assigned a reference number, such as “4924.01,” and the subject heading will likely include references to other places in Subject Compilations which might have relevant information.  For example, under the heading “Alcoholic Beverages” you might find citations to three law review articles on the subject, with a few notes as to the laws and regulations discussed in each article, as well as the statement, “See also Dram Shop Laws; Franchises and Franchising 4980.03.”  Don’t forget to check the subject heading "State Agencies," which lists articles and other subject headings where agencies and regulations are discussed, and to check the books from previous years. 

Doyle, Francis R. Searching the Law, The States, 4th ed.  Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, Inc., 2003.
Location: Reference
Call No.: K F240 .D69 2003

This book is a directory of practice materials for all 50 states.  It is arranged alphabetically, first by state name, and then by subject heading.  Some of the subject headings which might be useful for state regulatory research are "Administrative Law," "Civil Service," "Regulated Industries," "Statutes and Regulations," and "Trade Regulations and Economics."  For more specific subject headings (e.g., “Taxation”), consult the "Subject Headings" list at the beginning of the book.

Legal Periodical Indexes

Legal periodical indexes are useful for finding law review and journal articles about particular legal subjects.  Such articles may contain discussions of state regulations, or citations to state regulations which affect a particular area of law.  Most of California Western’s law journals are arranged in alphabetical order by title in the PERIODICALS section on the third floor of the library.

       A.   Online Periodical Indexes

     
        B.   Indexes In Print
 

II. CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, AND ARIZONA REGULATORY MATERIALS

Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis carry databases of current (and some past) regulations for all 50 states.  Specific databases for California are included below.  For other states, consult the Lexis-Nexis Directory of Online Services, or the Westlaw Database Directory, both available at the Reference Desk, for relevant online libraries and databases, or check the online directory of databases at www.lexis.com or www.westlaw.com.  

    A. California

        1. Print Resources

Barclay’s Official California Code of Regulations
LIBRARY: California Statutes and Regulations
FILE:  Barclay’s Official California Code of Regulations

California Regulatory Law Bulletin from 1990
LIBRARY: California Statutes and Regulations
FILE: California Regulatory Law Bulletin

            3. Westlaw

Barclay’s Official Code of Regulations
LIBRARY:  California Administrative and Executive Materials
FILES:  Barclay’s Official Code of Regulations (current year); California Administrative Code (prior years)

California Regulation Tracking
LIBRARY:  California Administrative and Executive Materials
FILES: California Regulation Tracking and California Regulation Tracking Full Text

            4. Internet

The California Office of Administrative Law publishes California regulations on-line through Westlaw.  Some California administrative agencies also make their respective regulations, proposed regulations opinions and official guidelines or handbooks available through the World Wide Web. Below is a list of sites where some of these materials can be found. Be careful to check the revision dates and sources for information found on the Internet.

California Code of Regulations (Office of Administrative Law)
http://ccr.oal.ca.gov

        Selected California Agencies

 III. OTHER STATES

Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis carry databases of current (and some past) regulations for all 50 states.  To find the database for a specific state, consult the Lexis-Nexis Directory of Online Services, or the Westlaw Database Directory, both available at the Reference Desk, or check the online directory of databases at www.lexis.com or www.westlaw.com.

Statutes and administrative codes for all fifty states are also available for free online at:

Washburn University School of Law Library
http://www.washlaw.edu

        ·         Click on your state name from the table.
·         Be sure to check the currency of information found on the Internet.