Finding Full Text of Acts

The first step to legislative research on the LexisNexis® services is to find the document you need. How you find your document varies throughout the three stages of the legislative cycle:

Legislative Stage

Federal

State

The bill is introduced and goes through the initial, engrossed, and enrolled versions

The bill is signed into law by the president or the Governor and becomes a federal Public Law or a state Session Law.

The Public Law or Session Law is codified into the federal or state statutory scheme.

 

You can also find acts on the LexisNexis® services by Name or Citation.

At various points of the legislative process, the document is available as a single document and other times it is divided into several documents. Federal bills, state bills, public laws, and session laws become a single document. A law in the federal code or a state code typically comprises multiple documents. Once you have your result set, take the following steps to print:

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Full Text of Federal Bills

The entire bill is a single document. Take the following steps to retrieve the full text of the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 in the source Congressional Full Text Bills - Current Congress:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search the full text of federal bills: Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. / U.S. Congress / Congressional Full Text Bills - Current Congress.
  4. Enter short title pre/15 Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 in the search field.
  5. Print your document.

Use the congressional full text of bills archive sources to find a bill from a previous Congress. For example, take the following steps to retrieve the full text of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 from the source Congressional Full Text Bills - 103rd Congress, Archive:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search the full text of federal bills from the 103rd Congress: Legislation & Politics - U.S. & U.K. / U.S. Congress / Full Text of Bills - Historical / Congressional Full Text Bills - 103rd Congress, Archive
  4. Enter short title pre/15 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 in the search field.
  5. Print your document.

NOTE:

These searches retrieve several drafts of the bill in reverse chronological order.

 
 

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Public Laws

Public laws consist of a single document. The LexisNexis® services usually put them online within 24 hours after the Government Printing Office (GPO) publishes them. Take the following steps to retrieve public law 109-8, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search Public Laws: Federal Legal - U.S. / United States Code Service (USCS) Materials / USCS - Public Laws.
  4. Enter bankruptcy abuse prevention consumer protection act of 2005.
  5. Print your document.

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United States Code (USC)

The USC provides the codified version of federal laws. Specific sections of the law are scattered and renumbered to fit in the structure of the USC. A law comprises many sections of the USC. Each section is a separate document. For example, use a HISTORY segment search to retrieve a law as codified in the USC by its public law number. Take the following steps to retrieve Public Law 109-8, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, as codified in the USC.

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search the US Code: Federal Legal - U.S. / United States Code Service (USCS) Materials / United States Code Service - Titles 1 through 50
  4. Enter history ( 109-8 )
  5. Print your document.

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Full Text of State Bills

The entire bill is a single document. Take the following steps to retrieve the full text of the Florida bill for an act relating to workers' compensation for first responders:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search full text of Florida bills from the current legislative session: States Legal - U.S. / Florida / Find Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Materials & Court Rules / FL Full-Text Bills.

    4. NOTE: Go to the source State Bill Text, Combined Archive for a bill from a previous legislative session.
  4. Enter workers' compensation for first responders.
  5. Print your document.

NOTE:

This search retrieves several drafts of the bill in reverse chronological order.

 
 

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State Session Laws

A session law is the enacted version of a state bill. A session law is a single document. Take the following steps to retrieve session law 2005-146, the Chad Meredith Act:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search Florida session laws: States Legal - U.S. / Florida / Find Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Materials & Court Rules / FL - Florida Advance Legislative Service.
  4. Enter Chad Meredith Act.
  5. Print your document.

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State Statutes

The state statutes provide the codified versions of state laws. The sections of the law are scattered and renumbered to fit in the structure of the state's statutory scheme. A law comprises many sections of the statute. Each section is an individual document. For example, use a HISTORY segment search to retrieve a state law as codified in the sate code by its Session Law number. Take the following steps to retrieve the Chad Meredith Act as codified in the Florida state statute:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search the Florida statutory code: States Legal - U.S. / Florida / Find Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Materials & Court Rules / FL - LexisNexis Florida Annotated Statutes.
  4. Enter history ( 2005 - 146 ).
  5. Print your document.

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Laws by Name or Citation

You can use the following resources to find the full text a law when you know its name or citation.

When you know:

Name of the Law

The USCS Popular Names Table source offers the names of enacted acts along with their Public Law number and a general classification to the USC. Take the following steps to search for the common name of a law and get the list of the USC sections in which it is codified and its public law number:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Click the Legal source tab.
  3. Click the following links in the order listed to search the Popular Names Table: Federal Legal - U.S. / United States Code Service (USCS) Materials / USCS Popular Names Table.
  4. Enter civil rights act of 1964.
  5. Click the radio button in front of Full-text of source documents.
  6. Click Search.

Citation

You can use the Get a Document tab to retrieve the full text of federal bills, state bills, public laws, and session laws. Then you can print the document.

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