Research Guides: Legal Research Guide: California Statutory, Case and Administrative Law

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California Constitution

California Statutory Law

Legislative Bills

Legislative Hearings

Legislative Histories

Public Laws

California Codes

Ballot Propositions & Initiatives

California Case Law

California Supreme Court & Courts of Appeal

California Administrative Law

California Code of Regulations

California Regulatory Notice Register

Municipal and County Codes & Ordinances

Governor's Executive Orders

California Constitution

Print/Micro

• West's Annotated California Codes (Cal Doc KFC 30.5 W4 Legal Alcove) First section includes the "Constitution of the State of California." In addition to the text of the Constitution, annotations include "Historical Notes," "Cross References," "Law Review and Journal Commentaries," and "Notes of Decisions."

• The Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of California(California Legislature) Biennial (Ref KFC 680 1879 A33; earlier editions in Cal Docs C 825a) Contains the text of the US and state constitutions, Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, and Articles of Confederation.

Free on the Internet

• State Constitution (Legislative Council of California) Includes a keyword search option and a table of contents display.

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional (HSU Users Only)

• Constitution of the State of California (Deering's California Codes Annotated) Browse by Article/Section or search by keyword. Includes Constitution text plus notes on historical derivation; cross references to other Constitution and code sections; references to law review articles, the American Law Review and other secondary sources; and case law that has interpreted the section.

California Case Law

California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal

Print/Micro

Opinions:

• West's California Reporter (KFC 47 C31) Covers 1960 to the 2005. Contains the fulltext of court decisions issued by the California Supreme Court, District Courts of Appeal, and Appellate Departments of Superior Courts. Decisions are published chronologically by court term.

Indexes:

• West's California Digest(KFC 47 C28) Covers 1850-1950.

• West's California Digest 2nd (KFC 47 C282) Covers 1951 to 2005. Serves as an index to decisions of the California Supreme Court, District Courts of Appeal, and the Appellate Departments of Superior Courts. Includes a descriptive word index and table of cases.

• California Blue and White Book (KFC 47 C32) Provides parallel citations between the California Reporter series and theState Reports series. Updated through 2005

Free on the Internet

• California Supreme and Appellate Court Cases (Findlaw) Includes Supreme Court and Appellate Court opinions from 1934 to the present. Searchable by citation, party name, fulltext, docket number, judge and attorney. One can also find cases that cite another case. (Requires free registration.)

• Opinions (Judicial Counsel of California) Contains official opinions from the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal from 1850 to the present and unofficial slip opinions in chronological order from 2000 to the present. For official opinions search by keyword or citation.

• Google Scholar Contains the legal opinions of federal and state supreme, appellate and district courts, including California. "Cited By" links list subsequent opinions and other legal resources that have cited an opinion.

• California Case Law Slip Opinions (Findlaw California) Contains California Supreme Court and California Courts of Appeal slip opinions in chronological order from October 1996 to the present.

Indexes:

• California Supreme Court Records and Briefs Index (University of California Hastings College of Law) Search California Supreme Court cases and briefs for the period 1906 thru 1978. Search by case name keyword, citation or docket number.

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional (HSU Users Only)

• California Supreme Court Cases Includes opinions from 1850 to the present.

• California Courts of Appeal Cases Includes opinions from 1905 to the present.

Indexes:

• Shepard's Citations Enter a citation for any federal or state case to establish the current validity of the case by retrieving prior and subsequent history and all citing references. Lists subsequent cases, briefs, law review articles, and other authorities which have cited the case. For information on using Shepard's see Shepard's Citations.

California Administrative Law

California Code of Regulations

(Definition: compilation of administrative regulations adopted by California state agencies; subdivided into 28 titles)

Print/Micro

• California Code of Regulations Title 24 Building Standards Code(California Building Standards Commission) (ref KFC 35 A22 B85) Published in 12 parts every three years. Includes building, mechanical, plumbing, energy, fire and related codes.

Free on the Internet

• California Code of Regulations (California Office of Administrative Law) Updated weekly; search by keyword, exact citation, or browse by Table of Contents. Excludes Title 24.

• California Code of Regulations Title 24 Building Standards Code (California Building Standards Commission)

• California Code of Regulations Title 24 Building Standards Code (public.resource.org)

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional (HSU Users Only)

• Barclays Official California Code of Regulations Browse by Title/Division/Chapter/Section or search by keyword. Updated weekly. Excludes Title 24.

California Regulatory Notice Register

(Weekly publication containing notices of proposed regulatory actions by state agencies)

Print/Micro

• California Regulatory Notice Register (Cal Doc L375 ) Library has 1975-2001. Weekly publication containing notices of proposed regulatory actions by state agencies.

Free on the Internet

• California Regulatory Notice Register (California Office of Administrative Law) Includes fulltext from 2002 to the present.

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional (HSU Users Only)

• New regulations from theCalifornia Regulatory Notice Register are incorporated into Barclayson a weekly basis.

Municipal and County Codes and Ordinances

Free on the Internet

• California Local Codes and Charters

• California Municipal Codes city/county or search by keyword.

California Statutory Law

Legislative Bills: Subject, Sponsor, Status, & Text

Print/Micro

• Legislative Index and Table of Sections Affected(Cal Docs L 450 L4i) . Library has the "Final Edition" from 1973/74 to the present. Contains two parts: a "subject index" to introduced bills and resolutions; and a "table of sections affected" that shows each section of the Constitution, codes, and uncodified laws affected by introduced bills.

• Final Calendar of Legislative Business (Cal Doc L500 F5) 1956-1972; Assembly Final History(Cal Doc L500 A1 H5a) 1973 to the present; and Senate Final History (Cal Doc L500 A1 H5s) 1973 to the present. Give status and history of all introduced bills. Arranged by bill number.

Free on the Internet

• Bill Information (Legislative Counsel of California) Search by bill number, author, or keyword. Contains text, status, history, analyses and votes of all introduced bills from the 1993/94 legislative session to the present. Updated daily. Includes an historical sequence of text revisions made during the legislative process. Indexes include bill number, author, and keyword. Bill analyses include point-by-point specifics on what a bill would do, the arguments in favor and against the bill, the fiscal impacts of the bill, prior history of the bill and background information on the issue.

• Legislative Index (Legislative Counsel of California) Current legislative session only. Issued periodically with each issue being cumulative for the legislative session. Contains two parts: a "subject index" to introduced bills and resolutions; and a "table of sections affected" that shows each section of the Constitution, codes, and uncodified laws affected by introduced bills.

• Histories and Indexes (California State Assembly) Contains electronic versions of the Assembly Final Historyand Senate Final History that give status and history of all Senate and Assembly bills from 1881 to 2005.

• Open Government Tracks bills, votes, individual members of the California Legislature and campaign contributions.

Legislative Hearings

Print/Micro

Text:

• Legislative Hearings (Cal Doc L500) The HSU Library has selective hearings.

Indexes to Hearings:

• HSU Library Catalog Indexes hearings from 1999 to the present.

• California State Library Indexes most state hearings.

Free on the Internet

• The California Channel Provides current and archival streaming video of governent hearings and other proceedings.

Legislative Histories

(Definition: lists bills, committee reports, and committee hearings associated with a specific legislative act and are useful for determining legislative intent.

For recommended strategies and sources see the following guides:

• State Legislative History Research Guides on the Web: California

• How to Compile a California Legislative History (University of California Hasting College of Law Library)

Public Laws

Print/Micro

• Statutes of California (Cal Doc L 325) Chronological arrangement of all California laws passed since 1850. Updated by Temporary Chapters (Cal Doc L 325) Each law is assigned a year and chapter number, e.g., 1990 chapter 1701. Each annual edition includes a brief summary of each law enacted, a subject index, and a multiyear index to codes affected by enacted legislation.

Free on the Internet

• Statutes (Legislative Counsel of California) Includes statutes from 1989 to the present. Searchable by chapter number, year, and keyword.

• Statutes and Amendments to the Codes (California State Assembly) Includes statutes from 1850 to 2008. PDF version of the annual print edition.

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional

• California Advance Legislative Service Includes statutes from 1987 to the present.

California Codes

(Definition: codification of all California laws currently in effect. Subdivided into 29 separate codes)

Print/Micro

Text:

• West's Annotated California Codes (Cal Doc KFC 30.5 W4 Legal Alcove) (Updated by annual pocket supplements and a quarterly cumulative bulletin) Contains the text of all 29 codes. Annotations associated with code sections may include historical and statutory notes on legislative history, citations to law review articles, court decisions that have interpreted the section, cross references to related sections, and citations to legal treatises and commentaries. West's Annotated Codes Research Guide updates annotations with newer citations to legal treatises and commentaries.

Indexes:

• West's Annotated California Codes (Cal Doc KFC 30.5 W4 Legal Alcove) Includes annually updated subject index.

• Larmac Consolidated Index to the Constitution and Laws of California (ref KFC 40 L3) annual index.

Free on the Internet

• California Law (Legislative Counsel of California) Contains all 29 codes which may be browsed by table of contents or searched by keyword.

LexisNexis / Proquest Congressional

• Deering's California Codes Annotated Browse by code or search by keyword. This commerical edition Includes code text plus annotations to related primary and secondary sources. These include judicial decisions, law review articles, Legislative Counsel Opinions, attorney general opinions, theCalifornia Code of Regulations, as well as other publications such asCalifornia Jurisprudence (Cal Jur) and Witkin’s Summary of California Law. Here is an example of an annotated code section.

Ballot Propositions & Initiatives

Print/Micro

• California Official Voter Information Guide (earlier names California Voter Guide, California Ballot Pamphlet, Proposed Amendments to Constitution: Propositions and Proposed Laws(California Secretary of State) (Cal Doc C 875) Library has 1948 to the present.

Free on the Internet

• California Ballot Propositions Database (University of California Hastings College of Law) Searchable database of all ballot propositions and initiatives from 1911 to the present. Contains fulltext of propositions and initiatives and arguments contained in the official voters pamphlet.

Governor's Executive Orders

Definition: Gubernatorial directives issued to executive agencies and their employees based on authority derived from the Constitution or state statute.

Governors are required to file executive orders with the Secretary of State.

Free on the Internet

• Recent Executive Orders (California Office of the Governor) Includes executive orders from 1999 to the present.

• Governor's Proclamations and Executive Orders (California Secretary of State) In six volumes 1849-1920,1920-1938, 1938-1955, 1955-1975, 1975-1984 and 1985-1990.