6.1 Primary legislation

Statutes of the United States are officially published in the following forms and sequence:

First, as a bill (slip law) after being passed by Congress (both the House of Representatives and the Senate) and signed by the President of the United States (bills can be found on GPO Access, from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward); 

Second, as Law numerically arranged in the bound Statutes at Large of the United States volumes;

Third, as a Law in the United States Code (USC) which is divided into 50 Titles.

N.B.: The Brian Dickson Law Library has in its collection the U.S.C.A. (United States Code Annotated [SLR4-14/15] which combines the official text of the U.S. Code with relevant cases, historical notes, indexes, cross-references, and other annotations to provide a solid framework for federal law research.

The first codification of federal legislation was authorized by Congress in 1866 and the publication is known as the Revised Statutes of 1875.  A second edition was authorized in 1878 to correct errors and to include new legislation.  In 1925 Congress prepared a new codification which became known as the United States Code of 1926.  A new edition of the code is published every 6 years with cumulative supplement volumes issued between each edition.

Bills: known as Slip laws; exist as first, second and third readings for each House.

Statutes: The acts of the United States are found in the following series:

•         The Revised Statutes of the United States – bound volumes
•         The Statutes at Large of the United States – bound volumes (available through HeinOnline)
•         The United States Code Congressional and Administrative news – (unofficial edition) bound volumes + paper parts
•         The United States Code – (official edition) bound volumes + paper parts + loose-leaf binders
•         The United States Law Week – loose-leaf volumes

Back to Table of Contents

Next to 6.2: Secondary Legislation