| Type of Source |
General Examples |
Binding Upon |
Used For |
| Primary |
Constitutions |
All branches of government. |
Known item and institutional searches where you need binding authority. |
|
Codes and Session Laws (Public Law No. or Statutes at Large)
|
Except as found unconstitutional, all branches of government. |
| Court Decision Reporters, Case Digests (Topic and Key Numbers) and Words and Phrases (video explanation) |
Binding upon lower courts of the same jurisdiction and other branches of government. |
| Codified Regulations or Administrative Codes and Administrative Registers or Regulations (site) |
Binding upon agency issuing the regulation until repealed. |
| Administrative Agency Opinions and Rulings. |
Generally binding upon the agency. Sometimes, may only be binding upon the agency with respect to the parties in question. |
| Secondary |
Encyclopedias (Missouri Practice), Treatises and Hornbooks, Law Reviews and Bar Journals, Form Books (video explanation) |
Not binding. |
Subject, statistical and special experience searches where you need to understand the issues and background of an area of law or problem. Also use to confirm your interpretation of a primary source. |
| Combined |
Looseleaf and Newsletter Services, American Law Reports (If ALR were an animal what would it be? Answer) (video explanation) |
Only primary sources have any binding authority. |
Use when ease is important. Such sources combine statutes, regulations, commentary, and case law annotations in a topical arrangement with a good table of contents and indexing system. |
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