California Statutes

With a citation to a code section, you can find the text of the law (as well as annotations in either West or Deering).  Code citations use the name of the code subject and the section number, e.g., Cal Penal Code §190.3.

To retrieve a code section on Lexis or Westlaw, simply copy and paste the citation into the main search box and hit enter.

You can also retrieve code sections on the California legislature's website:

When you know the Chapter number of a law, you can go directly to Statutes of California and Digests of Measures (bound as California Statutes and Amendments to the Code). The Chapter number will indicate in which part of the Code the law appears.  Session law citations use the session year and the specific page in the California Statutes and Amendments to the Code on which the chaptered law begins, e.g., 1994 Cal. Stat. 5675.

Many of the sources for California statutes include detailed subject indexes.

1. Statutes of California and Digests of Measures (bound as California Statutes and Amendments to the Codes) contains a subject index for each Legislative session, which provides references to the appropriate Chapter.

2. West’s and Deering’s Codes each contain a general subject index covering all 29 titles of the California Code as well as subject indexes for each individual title.  The Advance Legislative Services also provides subject indexes. 

3. LARMAC Consolidated Index to Constitution and Laws of California is a one-volume index providing detailed subject access to the entire set of California Codes.  LARMAC also includes a listing of statutorily defined terms under the heading “Defined Terms,” with references to the appropriate defining sections.

4. Lexis and Westlaw: Both online systems allow access to their versions of the code by keyword, tables of contents, and index.  In addition, Westlaw also allows access by popular name. Searching the tables of contents or Westlaw’s online index may be more fruitful than keyword searching.

5. Internet:  The codes on the California legislature's website are searchable by topic and contains a Table of Contents to the Code.

When you have the name by which legislation is commonly known, rather than a citation or subject, you can turn to Popular Name Tables.

1. West’s and Deering’s Annotated Codes both include Popular Name Tables in their indexes.  These tables list California statutes alphabetically by their common names and provide citations to the appropriate title and section.
    
2. LARMAC also contains an alphabetical Popular Name Table (located under heading “Popular Titles”) which lists California statutes by their common names.
    
3. Shepard’s Acts and Cases by Popular Name: Federal and State provides constitutional and statutory references to the common names of both federal and state statutes and cases.  Because of its comprehensive nature, Shepard’s Acts and Cases by Popular Name often lists several citations for a particular name and states are clearly identified along with the appropriate Code and section reference.
    

   Library:

   Please see the Reference Desk for access to Shepard's