United States Code

• Official Code
• Consolidation and codification of general and permanent laws
• 50 title headings, not all currently used
• New Title 51 (National and Commercial Space Programs) Dec. 18, 2010
• Compiled by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (an office of the U.S. House of Representatives)
• Published every 6 years, with cumulative annual supplements
• About the U.S. Code (GPO Access)
• LLSDC Guide to U.S. Statutes and Code
• Current print code:  2006 Code plus Supps-I-V (2011)
• 2000 and 2006 Codes Range 302
• 1976-1994 Codes plus supplements in US Docs at Y 1.2/5
• Use official code with most recent edition and cumulative supplement, update from the last supplement
• Titles of the 2006 ed. and supplements available on the House LRC website, on Hein Online , and on FDSys
• 1926:  First U.S. Code
  • First codification since 1876 Revised Statutes
  • Act of June 30, 1926, ch. 712, 44 Stat. 1
• Tables:  Popular Names, Classification Tables (USC/Public Laws), Revised Titles, Executive Orders and Proclamations
• Notes:  Statutory (Public Law) source, reviser and amendment notes, cross-references, effective dates, short title, text of related Executive Orders
• Microfiche:  1st floor, 1926-2000 Codes
• Page Image from Hein Online:  Title 11
• Page Image from Hein Online:  11 USC §101
• Page Image from Hein Online:  Popular Names Table

United States Code on Hein Online

• Hein Online US Code
• Official Code in pdf from 1925 to current 2006 edition and supplements
• Download searchable pdfs, or browse by edition or title
• Includes US Code citation search tool
• Includes Popular names Table and Index volumes
• Also has the Revised Statutes and other early compilations of U.S. statutes

United States Code on FDSys

• FDSys from GPO
• Browse by Title and Chapter, or use the advanced search with fields including short title, and Title, Chapter, and Part (for heading numbers and words)
• Current contents include the 2006 Code, with supplements through 2011
• Also has the 2000 and 1994 Code and Supplements
• PDF of Code volumes

United States Code on OLRC

• House Office of the Law Revision Counsel
• OLRC US Code
• New US Code Beta
• Search or download Code volumes by Title or Chapter
• Advanced search by title, heading, notes
• Previous code editions available to search, back to 1988
• Download PDF USC Titles for 1994, 2000 and 2006 Code, through the 2010 supplements
• Classification tables
  • Public Laws and Statutes at large to USC, USC to Public Laws
  • Use to check for recent amendments to US Code
  • New Cite Checker to enter code citation and find notes and updates
• Positive Law codification:  List of titles codified and codification projects on the website
• Search the USCPrelim advance posting of the updated US Code
• Search or enter a citation
• Browse the Code
• Popular names table
• USCprelim to search for code sections not yet in the official US Code
• Download pdf volumes of the US Code

Positive Law Codification

• Prima facie evidence:  Titles of the USC not enacted as positive law only prima facie or rebuttable evidence of law
• Positive law titles are legal evidence of the law
• Titles not codified:  Original statutes control for errors of inclusion, exclusion, word substitutions
• Code text yields to Statutes at Large if there is any discrepancy, unless codified as positive law
  • USNB of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents, Inc. 508 U.S. 439 (1993)
  • Royer's, Inc. v. U.S., 265 F.2d 615 (3d Cir. 1959)
  • U.S. v. Welden, 377 US 95 (1964): rearrangement of statutes in the US Code carries no significance
• Titles enacted as positive law:  Court will not permit or require proof of underlying statutes
• Positive law codification process:  technical corrections, not intended for substantive changes in law
• Code sections can be renumbered; renumbered title will include a note
  • Check tables for new title and chapter numbers
• Amendments to the law:
  • Without positive law codification, amendment to the original statute
  • Positive law title, Congress may amend the code section
  • For some positive law titles, later amendments codified as a note to the US Code
  • New acts not amending previous law, assigned by the OLRC to a place in the code
• Finding titles enacted as positive law
• Office of Law Revision Counsel
• Inside cover of USC volumes:  asterisk for titles enacted into Positive Law
• US Code Table I:  Revised titles by section
• LLSDC Revised Titles Table
• Note the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) is separately enacted as law
• New titles in progress from the OLRC
  • Title 51:  National and Commercial Space Programs (now complete and official)
  • Title 52:  Voting and Elections
  • Title 53:  Small Business
  • Title 54:  National Park System
  • Title 55:  Environment
• For more on positive law codification, see the brochure Positive Law Codification in the United States Code from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel