Library Home > Research > Research Guides > California Legal Research Guide: Legislation, Laws, Regulations & Case Law

California Legal Research Guide:
Legislation, Laws, Regulations & Case Law

Following are sources, both print and online, for tracking California legislative and legal information.

For specific instructions to online access for CODES,CASE LAW, and REGULATIONS, see the U.S. Legal Research Guide.

For remote access to library databases see
Off-Campus Access to Library Resources

Current Legislation

Status, history and text of pending legislation

Official California Legislative Information

  • Choose Bill Information

Bill information is available by legislative session from 1993, with the current session as the default. Use the" Session" pull down menu to select a previous session.

If you do not know whether a bill originated in the Assembly or the Senate, use the "House" pull down menu to select "both."

Then search by:

  • Keyword (e.g., dam AND construct*); and/or
  • Bill number (a search by number will return all documents associated with that bill number);
  • Original author(s) of bill or resolution.

Content includes the bill number, date introduced, sponsor(s), current status, votes, synopsis, analyses and full text of all versions. Each version indicates changes in wording from the previous version. If you "subscribe" to a current bill, updates on that bill will be sent to you via email. For detailed information on searching and subscribing, check the online help.

Full text of laws enacted during the current legislative session Official California Legislative Information
  • choose California Law
  • click on the link for Statutes
  • search by keyword, chapter number or chapter year.

The full text appears in Statutes and in a similar section in California State Legislature before incorporation into Deering's California Codes Annotated [print version].

Historic Legislation

  • California. Legislature. Final Calendar of Legislative Business (Ref KFC14 .C349), 1959-1972.
    Topical index; legislative histories; tables of code sections affected.
  • California. Legislature. Assembly. Journal of the Assembly, Legislature of the State of California (Ref KFC14 .C3512), 1942-current.
    (1989-current in Reference; earlier in the ARS.)
  • California. Legislature. Senate. Journal of the Senate, Legislature of the State of California (Ref KFC14 .C3522), 1942-current.
    (1989-current in Reference; earlier in the ARS.)
    Daily proceedings of the legislature, organized chronologically. Provides the text of bills as they are amended, committee and floor roll calls votes, legislators' letters of intent, and veto messages from the Governor.
  • California. Legislature. Assembly. Assembly Final History (Ref. KFC 14 .C351), 1973/74-current.
  • California. Legislature. Senate. Senate final history (Ref KFC14 .C352), 1973/74-current.
    Legislative histories by bill number. Provides Chapter numbers for bills passed into law. See Statutes of California, 1877-1911, or Statutes & Amendments to the Codes, California, 1917-, for text of the law.

Background Information

  • Committee reports and analyses for each bill are listed under "Bill Documents" on the Official California Legislative Information web site.
  • Lexis/Nexis, dates vary.
    For general news, select NEWS/General News:
    then select Major Newspapers or Magazines & Journals from the pull-down menu.
    For legal news, select LEGAL RESEARCH/Legal News.
  • California Environmental Insider, 1987-current. (Located in Current Periodicals, 2nd floor)
    Analysis of California environmental legislation and related news.
  • California Journal, 1970-current. (Current located in Current Periodicals, 2nd floor; earlier in ARS).
    Monthly analysis of California politics and government.
  • ProQuest, 1985-current. Provides full-text access to newspapers, news magazines and general interest periodicals, including the Press Democrat for coverage of local issues.

Statutes, Codes and Regulations

  • Official California Legislative Information, California Law/Statutes (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/).
    Recently chaptered California laws 1993 - current session.
  • Lexis/Nexis, LEGAL RESEARCH/State Codes/California/California Advance Legislative Service.
    Recently chaptered California laws-current session.
  • Statutes of California. (Ref KFC25 .S7), 1877-1911.
  • Statutes and amendments to the codes, California. (Ref KFC25 .S7), 1917-
  • California Code of Regulations (http://www.calregs.com/)
    Searchable by keyword and agency, browsable table of contents.
  • Deering's California Codes (Ref KFC 30.5 .D4)
    Codes in alphabetical order, each with own index. Master Index at end of set.
  • Larmac Consolidated Index to the Constitution and Laws of California (Ref KFC 40 .L3 1996)
    Topical and popular name index to the California codes. Invaluable tool for locating code by popular name.

Case Law

  • Lexis/Nexis
    California Supreme Court cases: STATE CASE LAW/California High Courts
    Appellate Court cases: STATE CASE LAW/California Appellate Courts
    Or, select California All Courts for both.
  • West's California Reporter (Ref KFC47.A22)
    Decisions of the California Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and Superior Court Appellate Dept.in chronological order, published by West Pub.
  • West's California Digest (Ref KFC57.W4)
    Coded by points of law, provides a topical approach to California case law. Kept up to date by pocket supplements.

Secondary Sources

  • Law reviews provide scholarly in-depth analyses and evaluations of legal issues and usually include many footnotes that cite primary sources. Access is through:
    Lexis/Nexis- Legal Research/Law reviews
    Full text of 100+ major law review sources, primarily from 1992-, with a few as early as 1976. For a complete listing, click on the "Sources" button within the Law Review form.