Research Guides: Criminal Justice and Criminology: Laws & Regulations

Federal & State Laws

Westlaw This link opens in a new window
WestLaw is a collection of law-related resources. It includes important analytical sources, such as Am Jur 2d and the ALR's, as well as law reviews and journals. Primary Law Sources are also included, such as the United States Code Annotated (USCA or US Code), Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and the Federal Register, as well as state statutes and regulations, and all federal and state cases. Note: Previously known as WestlawNext. This resource must be access on-campus or while connected to a campus VPN.

Congress.gov
The official website for U.S. federal legislative information. It provides access to legislative information for the public, members of congress, and legislative agencies. It's presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Publishing Office, the LOC's Congressional Research Service, the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Office of the Secretary of the Senate.

Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information, including laws, proposed bills and statutes, hearings, legislative histories, congressional committee information, campaign contributions and PAC activities, the "Congressional Record", the historical "Congressional Index", and the "Serial Set", as well as articles from the "National Journal". Right-hand column has tips on how to use the Congressional interface.Note: Email yourself a copy of the article instead of a link.

CQ Magazine
In-depth reports on issues looming on the congressional horizon, plus a complete wrap up the previous week's news, including the status of bills in play, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, committee and floor activity, debates and all roll-call votes. Search by topic, page number, committee, "exact phrases or words," bill number, byline or reporter and by Boolean full-text and date searches. Detailed floor votes dating back to August 1983 are easily retrieved. Coverage: 1983 - present

govinfo This link opens in a new window
Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government - Executive (including departments and agencies), Legislative, and Judicial. Service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO). Formerly named FDsys and GPO Access.

Colorado

Colorado Revised Statutes
The legal code of Colorado, the codified general and permanent statutes of the Colorado General Assembly.
Colorado General Assembly
Official website. Provides full text of bills, laws & other legislative material online from 1997 onwards.
Access for All: Providing a Window to the Legislative Process for Colorado’s Citizens
Searchable access to all Colorado Legislative Council Research Publications; legislation related to each publication; information on performing legislative history research at the state and federal level. Unrestricted Access.
State and Local Government on the Net
The State and Local Government Internet directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments.

Legislative Histories

University of Central Florida's Legislative Histories Guide
View a step by step research guide to researching legislative histories from the University of Central Florida

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) & Federal Register

CFR is an annual subject compilation of all federal regulations in effect, arranged into 50 titles (i.e.broad subject classifications) such as public health. See below for several sources for the CFR:

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (online)
The annual edition of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Federal Register is a periodical that contains Federal Agency Regulations, Proposed Rules and Public Notices, Executive Orders, Proclamations, an Presidential documents.

Federal Register
The daily publication of the rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, along with executive orders. Online coverage: 1936 - present.
The Federal Register: what it is and how to use it (online tutorial)
Produced by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Colorado State Regulations

Code of Colorado Regulations
The CCR provides the administrative rules of the executive agencies of the state of Colorado.Notices of rulemaking, proposed rules, new and amended rules, and Attorney General rules opinions are published twice monthly in the CCR's companion publication, the Colorado Register. This link will give you access to the online versions of both publications.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
CRS works exclusively for Congress, providing timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of political party affiliation.
Guide to CRS (Congressional Research Service) Reports on the Web
By Stephen Young. Historical introduction with links to various reports online.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports - Military and National Security
Access to CRS Reports on Military and National Security policy hosted by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports - University of North Texas
"This site is not affiliated with the Congressional Research Service, but aims to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different web sites since 1990 as well as converted print material."
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports - Thurgood Marshall Law Library
Provides non-partisan and in-depth legislative research and analysis on a variety of topics. CRS produces or updates more than 3,000 studies and other publications each year, none of which are distributed to the public. Covers subject areas of Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law and Policy.

Regulation Information

Reginfo.gov
Explains processes and links to calendar of upcoming proposed regulations.
Regulations.gov
Provides online comments for proposed regulations.

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University of Colorado Boulder Library: Government Information
University of Colorado Boulder is the Regional U.S. Federal Depository for Colorado as well as an official designated depository for the EU, the UN, and the State of Colorado. They provide additional information and services for government resources.