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Survey of U.S. State Legislation

State Statutes By Topic

Often the best starting point for State legislation comparative research is a secondary source that compiles state statutes by topic, making it easy to see how different states approach a specific area of law.

The Survey of U.S. State Legislation contains surveys of state laws on a broad range of topics and is searchable by keyword. Users can also browse the Table of Contents. The surveys provide citations, usually linked, but may not include explanatory text. It als contains surveys of state regulations on a range of topics. It is also possible to search with sub-divisions of the legal resource.

This tool provides an overall view of some of the most-asked about and controversial legal topics in the United States: abortion, the right to die, gun control, prayer in public schools, marijuana, marriage, personal income tax, drunk driving, capital punishment, right to work, lemon law, leases and other agreements, child custody, legal ages, and many other areas.

Selecting a law from either the list of categories or the list of laws will produce an easy-to-use state by state
comparison table of cross-references which includes the code section and other relevant information pertaining to the legislation of each U.S. state.

Survey of U.S. State Legislation Topics

The topics of the Survey of U.S. State Legislation fall into the following general legal categories:

Business and Consumer Laws
Criminal Laws
Education Laws
Employment Laws
Family Laws
General Civil Laws
Real Estate Laws
Tax Laws

Within each section, topics are arranged alphabetically and presented in their own subsections. Each section begins with a general overview followed by a table that briefly summarizes each state’s statutes on particular aspects of the law. References to the statute or code section covering that law are also presented, enabling users who are interested in reading the original text to easily find it.

Other Jurisdictions

For legal information on other countries and legal systems, see the global legal encyclopedia.