Federal Statutory Law

New statutes must be added to or fit into the existing United States Code (U.S.C.). The U.S.C. contains the general and permanent laws of the United States, organized into titles based on subject matter. A complete new edition of the Code (“main edition”) is printed by the Government Publishing Office (“GPO”) every six years, and five annual cumulative supplements (designated as Supplements I through V) are printed in intervening years. The U.S.C. currently consists of 54 titles (Title 53 is Reserved) and five appendices. The U.S.C. is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (“OLRC”) of the U.S. House of Representatives pursuant to 2 U.S.C. § 285b.

Because the United States Code contains only the general and permanent laws of the United States, not every provision contained in those public laws goes into the Code. The OLRC reviews every provision of every public law to determine whether it should go into the Code, and, if so, where. This process is known as U.S. Code classification.

Cite according to The Bluebook, Rule 12. Whenever possible, cite to the official United States Code.

Citation of an entire statute:

42 U.S.C. §§ 90601–9675. 
 

Citation of an individual section of the United States Code:

28 U.S.C. § 1291.