Welcome
This guide points to state and local law resources.
While the Drake Law Library has a broad collection of materials related to Iowa law, print holdings for other states are limited. The library maintains current copies of the statutory code, in an annotated version where available. For all states but Iowa, these are found on the third floor of the library. (For Iowa, see the Iowa Wing and Ready Reference.) We do not receive hard-copy versions of the administrative register or code for any state.
If we have other state-specific print resources, they will be shelved near that state's statutes.
See Finding Library Materials for more information on how to find materials referenced in this guide.
State Constitutions
State constitutions are typically included in the state statutory code.
- State Constitutions of the United States by Robert L. MaddexThis book includes “general information, the history, dates, and a summary of 50 state constitutions, three territories, and the District of Columbia.” Library location: Reserve KF4530 .M33 2006
- NBER/Maryland State Constitutions ProjectContains most of the roughly 150 state constitutions adopted since 1776.
State Law Directories
Westlaw and LexisNexis offer collections of state legal resources for individual states as well as databases of combined state codes and combined state constitutions. Additional compilations of state resources include:
- Book of the StatesLibrary location: JK 2403 .B6 - most recent on reserve
This book provides a range of background information and statistics related to state government, as well as considering recent developments and trends. - State and Local Government Internet DirectoryLinks to web sites of “state agencies and city and county governments.”
- Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and TerritoriesLinks for each state's constitution, branches of goverment, legal research guides, and more from the Library of Congress
- Legal Information Institute: Law by Source: StateCornell Law School's listing of states' primary legal resources and more.
- WashlawWashburn University School of Law's state legal links are on the left-hand menu.
- State Legislature WebsitesFrom THOMAS
- State Legislatures, State Laws and State RegulationsWeb site links and telephone numbers from the Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C.
- State Legislative History Research Guides and State Legislatures on the WebFrom Indiana University School of Law Library – Bloomington
- State Agency DatabasesThis wiki from the American Library Association provides links to databases produced by state agencies.
- State Court RulesFrom Drake Law Library
- State Court Web SitesFrom the National Center for State Courts
- State Online Legal ResourcesIn 2007 and 2009, the American Association of Law Libraries reviewed all 50 states' primary legal materials, noting the official sources and whether the versions on the Web are either official or authenticated. The report found that most states’ Internet resources are not official, but some are, especially for administrative registers. The state-by-state section discusses state legal sites but does not provide Web addresses.
Local and Safety Codes
- Codes.GovState and Municipal Public Safety Codes (e.g., building codes, fire codes) from Public.Resource.Org
- International Codes on WestlawIncludes Int'l Building Code, Int'l Fire Code, and more.
- State and Local Government Internet DirectoryLinks to web sites of “state agencies and city and county governments.”
- Municode.comMunicipal Code Corporation provides “codes for more than 1,600 local governments in searchable online databases.”
- Iowa Municipal Codes
- Iowa County Ordinances
Reference Librarian |
 Karen Wallace |
Loading...
