The laws for Texas are published as statutes and codes.
The official statutes and codes for Texas are published in Vernon's Texas Statutes and Codes Annotated. Vernon's is available in full-text on Westlaw.
Print Edition Location:
Legal Reference
KFT 1555 .A295
PLEASE NOTE: The print series available in the Library is no longer being updated and is for Teaching Purposes Only. For the latest information, see Westlaw.
The volumes are organized by the area of code and section numbers.
If you know the section code that you are looking for, you can go straight to it.
If not, you will need to use the index.
Search for your topic or keyword in the General Index volumes, shelved near the end of the series. Words appear in the Index alphabetically. For example, if you are looking for "arson," you would use the General Index A-C volume.
Within the index, use the words at the top corners of the page to find your term.
NOTE: Your term may not always appear in a corner, but it can fall alphabetically between the corner words.
On the page, locate the bold heading.
Under each bold heading, there will be subtopics for more specific information. Locate the listing that is closest to what you are looking for.
Write down or make a note of the section code listed. This is what you will use to find the section in the Statute books.
Go back to the shelves and use the spines of the books to find the volume that includes that section.
For example, PEN 28.01 refers to the Penal Code, Section 28.01.
Using the section number, find the heading within the volume.
Example: Penal Code, Section 28.01
Since the bound volumes are only as up to date as the date they were printed, it is critical to check for updates. Vernon's uses annual supplements to update its content. Most of the time, these appear as pocket parts at the back of the volume. When a pocket part becomes too big to fit in the pocket, it will come as a separate paperback supplement shelved right after the volume.
Turn to the back of the volume to check for a pocket part. Within the pocket part, check for your same section number. If nothing appears, that means there were no updates to that section since the bound book was published.
In our example, the volume was up to date at the time, so no pocket part exists.
Vernon's Texas Codes Annotated is available full-text in Westlaw.
(click on images to view larger)
United States legislation is available either for free online in the United States Code or in its annotated form in the United States Codes Annotated (U.S.C.A.) The USCA is available in full-text online in Westlaw.
Print Edition Location:
Legal Reference
KF 62 .W46
PLEASE NOTE: The print series available in the Library is no longer being updated and is for Teaching Purposes Only. For the latest information, see Westlaw.
The volumes are organized by the area of code and section numbers.
If you know the section code that you are looking for, you can go straight to it.
If not, you will need to use the index.
Search for your topic or keyword in the General Index volumes, shelved near the end of the series. Words appear in the Index alphabetically. For example, if you are looking for "arson," you would use the General Index A-C volume.
Within the index, use the words at the top corners of the page to find your term.
NOTE: Your term may not always appear in a corner, but it can fall alphabetically between the corner words.
On the page, locate the bold heading.
Under each bold heading, there will be subtopics for more specific information. Locate the listing that is closest to what you are looking for.
Write down or make a note of the section code listed. This is what you will use to find the section in the series.
Go back to the shelves and use the spines of the books to find the volume that includes that title and section.
For example, 18 § 844 = Title 18, Section 844
(§ = the symbol for section )
Using the section number, find the heading within the volume.
Example: Title18, Section 844
Since the bound volumes are only as up to date as the date they were printed, it is critical to check for updates. USCA uses annual supplements to update its content. Most of the time, these appear as pocket parts at the back of the volume. When a pocket part becomes too big to fit in the pocket, it will come as a separate paperback supplement shelved right after the volume.
Turn to the back of the volume to check for a pocket part.
Within the pocket part, check for your same section number.
If nothing appears, that means there were no updates to that section since the bound book was published.
(click on images to view larger)
On the Westlaw homepage, under "Browse" and "All Content," click on Statutes & Court Rules in the first column.
Click on United States Codes Annotated or one of the areas under it.
You can either keep browsing or use the search box at the top to search for a keyword or topic. As you browse, the search box at the top of Westlaw narrows to that type of information.
