Law Library Guides: U.S. Legal Information: States

Constitutions

State Constitutions
From Indiana University Maurer School of Law, links to constitutions and resources on amendments and constitutional history for each state.
Constitutions of the Several States
A table summarizing constitutional development in each state, including citations to enabling acts and the effective date of each constitution.
The Rise of Modern Constitutionalism 1776-1849
Click on access for public users, and then on "Constitutions" at the top of the next screen. A comprehensive collection of early constitutional documents in facsimile, including numerous failed revisions and amendments.

Legislatures

Laws by State
From Cornell University Law School, a state-by-state list of links to websites for statutes as well as constitutions, judicial opinions, and other resources.
Uniform Law Commission: Acts
Information on current and proposed uniform laws, from the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
Uniform Laws
From Cornell, links to uniform laws as enacted in specific jurisdictions.
State Legislative Websites Directory
From the National Conference of State Legislatures, links to legislative websites and to specific pages such as bill tracking, biographies of legislators, and kids pages.
State Legislative History Research Guides
From Indiana University Maurer School of Law, links to online guides to legislative history resources and methods for specific states.

Executive Branches

Administrative Rules
Links to official sites for each state, where available, for administrative codes and to publications like the Federal Register containing notice and/or full text of proposed and adopted rules.
State Blue Books and Encyclopedias
From the American Library Association, links to publications for specific states similar to the United States Government Manual with directory information and/or descriptions of departments and agencies.

Courts

State Court Web Sites
From the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), links to state judiciary homepages, courts of last resort, appellate courts, and a limited number of trial courts.
State Court Structure Charts
NCSC charts of the routes of appeal and jurisdictional bases of courts in each state. This is the place to learn that the New York Supreme Court is a trial court, or that Oklahoma and Texas each have two courts of last resort.
The Public Library of Law
Includes free access to U.S. Courts of Appeals decisions back to 1950.
Google Scholar Case Law Search
Free access to cases from all levels of the federal court system, including U.S. District Courts. Scope of coverage is broad but not readily apparent.
Privacy/Public Access to Court Records: State Links
NCSC links to PACER-like state websites providing docket information and, in some instances, case documents.
Court Statistics Project
The NCSC's site for statistical resources. Includes the annual Examining the Work of State Courts and State Court Caseload Statistics.

Local Law

Municipal Code Corporation
Free Municipal Code Library provides access to thousands of city and county codes from around the country. Free access does not include keyword searching of multiple codes.
American Legal Publishing's Code Library
A smaller collection of county and city codes, but free searching of the entire collection is available.

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U.S. Legal Information: States