See the table on the "Primary Law" tab to note the difference between Codes and Session Laws.
The video that follows demonstrates how to work with codified statutes from a variety of sources.
Working with the annotations of codes is a powerful way to enhance your research. Annotations are case summaries and citations to cases that interpret parts of the code.
Usually, the index to a code or popular name table is your best bet when working with statutes. However, if that fails, use terms and connectors, fields or segments, and the atleastN( ) command in your search.
In the example below we are trying to find out how long a knife has to be to be considered a weapon in Missouri. Essentially, we search "knife" within the same sentence as "inches." We also want "weapon" in our code section. Since what we probably want is in a definitional section of the code, we search the caption or "CA" for definition.
Another important tip is that most codes, especially Westlaw, have Popular Name Tables and Indexes (often to the right on the database page). These can be quite effective in locating material.
Uniform and model laws are in effect "prepackaged" legislation for states that are produced by the Uniform Law Commission - a think tank of scholars, lawyers, and judges. The uniform laws help produce uniformity across states as well as good legislation that has been vetted by the best legal minds. They are available for free at link.
While uniform laws adopted by Missouri are available in its own version of the code (not every uniform law has been adopted by Missouri), sometimes it is helpful to see the comments of the ULC and the rules of other state cases on provisions of the code. Consequently, a very helpful annotated version is available on Westlaw.
The Uniform Commercial Code is perhaps the most utilized uniform code. Most contracts classes will introduce this to students. There are other important acts, like the Uniform Partnership Act and the Uniform Trust Code.
Constitutions are found with the commercial codes provided by Westlaw, Lexis (part of the U.S.C.S. but found separately a link) and Bloomberg Law. Court rules are also included with the Code and Constitution.
A good free version of the Constitution is also available through the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) at link.
On Westlaw, the Missouri State Constitution can be found in a similar fashion. Court rules are also included with the state code and constitution. On Lexis the state's constitution is found on a separate page from the code at link.
Official codes are generally what should be cited to. The problem is that they are often out of date, and as we learned in the pandemic, they may be inaccessible. Annotated Codes, while not official, offer annotations to cases interpreting the code, which can be extremely helpful.
The official Missouri Code, Missouri Revised Statutes (Mo. Rev. Stat. § x.x) near the library service desk. It is available online (unofficial version) at https://revisor.mo.gov/. The unofficial version, available on Westlaw is Vernons Annotated Missouri Statutes.
The official U.S. Code is the U.S.C. It often lags behind the commercial, annotated versions. Link to government edition online (which has historical editions of the code). Another unofficial option is the online edition offered by the Cornell Legal Information Institute at link.
The most widely used annotated code is West's U.S. Code Annotated (or U.S.C.A.).
Find R.S.Mo. § 456.4-408 dealing with trusts for pets
The following problems come from Beau Steenken & Tina Brooks, Sources of American Law: An Introduction to Legal Research (4th ed., CALI eLangdell Press 2019) (Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License)
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