Libraries, Archives, & Museums: Legal Resources: Find Primary Sources

Some useful tools for finding federal law

Table 3 of the United States Code
Includes Public Law numbers, Statutes at Large numbers, and United States Code sections. You can use it to find where in the United States Code a particular Statute at Large or Public Law was codified. The earliest statutes don't have Public Law numbers in this table - Public Law numbers were not introduced until around 1901.
List of CFR Sections Affected
Identifies CFR part and section numbers changed or added since the last CFR revision date, together with the Federal Register page numbers where the changes were published.
Table of Acts Cited by Popular Name
List of popular and statutory names of acts of Congress, together with the Statutes at Large citation and sometimes the United States Code citation.
Table of Public Land Orders
Department of Interior's list of Public Land Orders with corresponding Federal Register citations.

Alaska state and local law

Current Alaska Administrative Code is online at http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/aac.asp. Recent changes are listed in the Online Public Notices at https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Default.aspx. Find older citations in paper at the Alaska State Archives or the Alaska Court Law Library in Anchorage.

Legal Research - Alaska Resources
Describes the sources of law in Alaska, including the Alaska Statutes, the Alaska Administrative Code, case law, court rules, pattern jury instructions, Alaska’s constitution, executive orders, attorney general opinions and municipal codes. Both print and internet resources are covered, and links to internet resources are provided.
Alaska State Legislature Infobases
Contains the Alaska Constitution, Alaska Statutes (1993+), Executive Orders, the current Alaska Administrative Code, Bills and Resolutions (1993+), House and Senate Journals (1987+), Committee Minutes (1982+) and Session Laws (1981+).
Alaska State Legislature - Bill Action Status Inquiry System (BASIS)
Contains bills, House and Senate Journals, Committee Minutes and Session Laws from 1993 to present. You'll also find a link to some earlier legislative history materials in the Infobases.
Law Resources - Alaska Department of Law
Includes Attorney General Opinions, Drafting Manual for Administrative Regulations, and more.
Alaska Case Law Service
Opinions of the Alaska Supreme Court and Alaska Court of Appeals from 1960 forward.
Alaska Office of Administrative Hearings
Includes "final agency decisions reached after administrative hearings."

New!

Indigenous Law Portal
On January 7, 2015, the Law Library of Congress announced the addition of Alaskan tribes to the Indigenous Law Portal.

Lexis and Westlaw

Westlaw, through the Alaska State Court Law Library
Includes Federal and state cases, statutes, administrative codes, briefs, journals and law reviews, American Jurisprudence legal encyclopedia and forms, jury verdicts and more. Anyone can use Westlaw at one of the law library's public access computers at 16 locations throughout Alaska.

LexisNexis (library staff access only)
Library staff can search a vast body of news, legal, and legislative history resources through LexisNexis. If you think a search of LexisNexis or some of our other resources may help you, use this link to send us a question.

Federal law

govinfo
Contains the United States Code (1994+), Code of Federal Regulations (1996+), Federal Register (1994+), Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993+), United States Court Opinions (Court of Appeals, District Court, Bankruptcy Court) (2004+), Supreme Court Opinions (1937-1975) and more.

GovInfo
GovInfo is the GPO's beta website that will eventually replace FDSys. Try it, and provide GPO with feedback.
Law Library of Congress and Hein Online
Hein Online and the Law Library of Congress have cooperated to make these historic legal materials available to the public free of charge: United States Code 1925-1988 (includes content up to 1993), United States Reports (Supreme Court Decisions) v. 1-542 (1754-2004), Code of Federal Regulations (1938-1995), Federal Register v. 1-58 (1936-1993).
Thomas, from the Library of Congress
Includes federal bills and resolutions (1989-present), the Congressional Record (1989-present), Committee Reports (1995-present), and Treaties (1975-present, with some coverage back to 1967).
Alaska Court System - Federal and State Legal Resources
Links to key resources for research of federal law including court opinions, statutes, regulations, and court rules.
United States Supreme Court Website
Offers Supreme Court opinions since 1991. Check Findlaw for earlier opinions.
United States Federal Courts Website
Federal Court Rules for all federal courts are published here. Look for local federal court rules and opinions on individual federal court websites. Use the Court Locator (left side of home page) to navigate to those sites.
FindLaw - Cases and Codes
From the website: "contains resources and links for both state and federal laws. This includes resources pertaining to constitutions, statutes, cases and more." This is one of the best sources for U.S. Supreme Court opinions; it contains opinions from 1893 to present.
Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute
Publishes the United States Constitution, United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Supreme Court Opinions (1990-present), Federal Court Rules and more.

International law, Indian law, and law of other states

Alaska Court System - Federal and State Legal Resources
Links to key resources for research of federal law including court opinions, statutes, regulations, and court rules.
Law Library of Congress - Guide to Law Online
Portal to state, federal and international sources of law. Also links to some commentary and government websites.
Law Library of Congress - Indigenous Law Portal
"The Indigenous Law Portal brings together collection materials from the Law Library of Congress as well as links to tribal websites and primary source materials found on the Web." This portal includes Alaskan tribes.
Law Library of Congress - Treaties
Links to a variety of sources for treaties and information about treaties, including the Department of State's Treaties in Force. Also links to a number of research guides designed to help people research treaties.
Links to State Statutes by Topic from Cornell University Legal Information Institute
Want to do some comparative legal research? Cornell's Legal Information Institute has compiled links to state statutes by topic. The categories are pretty broad (for example, marriage, fish and game, criminal code).
National Indian Law Library
Offers a link and index to tribal law materials by state, along with guidance on researching tribal law.
Indian Affairs - Laws and Treaties, Compiled and Edited by Charles J. Kappler
From the website: "seven volume compilation of U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders pertaining to Native American Indian tribes. The volumes cover U.S. Government treaties with Native Americans from 1778-1883 (Volume II) and U.S. laws and executive orders concerning Native Americans from 1871-1970 (Volumes I, III-VII). The work was first published in 1903-04 by the U.S. Government Printing Office. Enhanced by the editors' use of margin notations and a comprehensive index, the information contained in Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties is in high demand by Native peoples, researchers, journalists, attorneys, legislators, teachers and others of both Native and non-Native origins."

Department of Education and Early Development Alaska State Libraries, Archives, and Museums

Legal Resources: Find Primary Sources

Some useful tools for finding federal law

Alaska state and local law

New!

Lexis and Westlaw

Federal law

International law, Indian law, and law of other states

Our Division

Libraries, Archives, & Museums