Legislative Drafting Reference and Research Tools, including Statutory Construction
Rules
Standing Rules of the Senate
Rules of the House of Representatives
Title 1 U.S. Code Chapter 1 - Rules of Construction
Legislative Drafting Manuals
House Legislative Counsel's Manual on Drafting Style, November 1995 (76-page PDF)
Information on Legislative Drafting - from the Office of the Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
Alaska Manual of Legislative Drafting
Arizona Legislature Bill Drafting Manual (154-page PDF)
Colorado Legislative Drafting Manual
Hawaii Legislative Drafting Manual (189-page PDF)
Illinois Guide to Drafting Legislative Documents
Indiana Bill Drafting Manual
Bill Drafting Manual for the Kentucky General Assembly (170-page PDF)
Maine Legislative Drafting Manual
Maryland Legislative Drafting Manual
Massachusetts Legislative Drafting and Legal Manual
Minnesota Bill Drafting Manual
Montana Bill Drafting Manual (186-page PDF)
North Dakota Legislative Drafting Manual
Oregon Bill Drafting Manual
South Dakota Legislative Drafting Manual (63-page PDF)
Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual
Utah State Legislature Drafting Manual (see menu middle-left)
Washington Bill Drafting Guide
West Virginia Legislature Bill Drafting Manual (179-page PDF)
"Drafting Federal Grant Statutes: Studies in Administrative Law and Procedure 90-1," by the Administrative Conference of the United States, Office of the Chairman
Minnesota Rules: Drafting Manual with Styles and Forms
Ohio Rule Drafting Manual
Other Resources
Statutory Construction Zone - a blog by Gary O'Connor "devoted to federal statutory construction" (currently on hiatus)
Statutory Construction Blog - David Hrici
Glossary of Legislative Terms - from TheCapitol.Net
Office of the Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
"Office of Legislative Counsel: House," by
Matt Glassman, CRS Report RS20735, March 31, 2008 (3-page PDF)
Office of the Legislative Counsel, U.S. Senate
"Office of Legislative Counsel: Senate," by Matthew Glassman, CRS Report RS20856, March 31, 2008 (3-page PDF)
Statute Law Review
"Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends," by George Costello, CRS Report 97-589, March 30, 2006 (55-page PDF)
Statutory interpretation - wikipedia
To keep track of years and sessions of Congress, consult the Session Dates Table provided by the Clerk of the House.
U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual
THOMAS (Legislative Information from the Library of Congress)
United States Statutes at Large (Law Library / National Digital Library Program) The seventeen volumes presented in this online collection cover the laws of the first forty-two Congresses, 1789-1873.
The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School: Selected Statutes of the United States
United States Code
United States Code (U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel) - Offers introductory material to the Code and access to a search engine. The database reflects the current edition and supplements of the United States Code as printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office (January 5, 1999).
Title 1, Chapter 1 - Rules of Construction
Download the United States Code
Search the United States Code
Search Prior Versions of the U.S. Code - beginning with the 1988 ed., suppl. II
United States Code Classification Tables - sorted by Congress, then by either Public Law or U.S. Code section. Updated within one to two days of federal legislation enacted into law.
United States Code (U.S. Government Printing Office, GPO Access) - Provides a search engine for searching the 1994 editions, plus supplement 4 (January 5, 1999 for titles 1-41)
Description
General Searching Instructions
United States Code - Helpful Hints
United States Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute) - Provides an updated interface to the U.S. Code, with links to notes and legislative activity through THOMAS.
Find US Code Materials by Title and Section
List of Titles
Search Engine
Table of Popular Names
short list of Popular Names
Popular Names - from American Law Sources Online
Style Guides
The Business Writer's Handbook, by Alred, Brusaw and Oliu
Elements of Style, by Strunk and White [Buy it now online at Amazon]
The Elements of Legal Style, by Bryan Garner [Buy it now online at Amazon]
Quick DC Links - Washington Essentials
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URL: TheCapitol.Net/Research/legislative
Related Resources
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