The state government documents used most frequently in conducting legal research are listed below.

Judicial | Legislative | Administrative | Municipal 

Judicial

State Court Cases

(Electronic Resources)

LexisNexis Academic
Select Legal Research (from the Academic Search Form), State Case Law and the appropriate state.

Social Law Library
Includes Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts Appeals Court, Massachusetts Superior Court Opinions (selected), and other Massachusetts administrative court opinions.

Westlaw Campus Research
Click on the Law tab at the top of the page. Under Select One or More Areas to Search and Cases, click on the radio buttons next to All State Cases or State Cases.

(Print Resources)

Massachusetts Reports 
(W.E.B. Du Bois KFM 2445 A22)
Opinions from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports
(UM/Du BoisKFM 2448 M37)
Opinions from the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

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Legislative

State Legislation

(Electronic Resources)

General Laws of Massachusetts
Laws currently in effect in Massachusetts.

LexisNexis Academic
Select Legal Research (from the Academic Search Form), State Codes and the appropriate state.

State Legal Sources on the Web
Excellent webpage includes state session laws and legislative codes for most states hosted by University of Michigan Documents Center.

Westlaw Campus Research
Click on the Law tab at the top of the page. Under Select One or More Areas to Search and Statutes and Regulations, click on the radio buttons next to All State Statutes or State Statutes.

(Print Resources)

Massachusetts General Laws Annotated
(Ref. W.E.B. Du Bois KFM 2430 1958 W4 and W.E.B. Du Bois KFM 2430 1958 W4)
Laws currently in effect in Massachusetts including citations to cases that construe the statutes as well as references to the administrative regulations.

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Administrative

State Administrative Regulations

(Electronic Resources)

Code of Massachusetts Regulations
Administrative regulations issued by Massachusetts administrative agencies included in the Social Law Library.

Westlaw Campus Research
Click on the Law tab at the top of the page. Under Select One or More Areas to Search and Statutes and Regulations, click on the radio buttons next to All State Statutes or State Statutes.

(Print Resources)

Code of Massachusetts Regulations
(W.E.B. Du Bois KFM 2435 1987 A2)

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Municipal

The number of Websites containing municipal codes continues to grow although there is not one that includes all of them at this time. The Websites listed below are among those with the largest content and best search engines.

LexisNexis Municipal Codes
Selected municipal codes from 36 states.

Municipal Codes
Mostly Western and Midwestern state municipalities are covered by Sterling Codifiers Inc..

Municipal Codes
Extensive list of municipal codes maintained by the Seattle Public LIbrary.

Seattle Public Library Municipal Codes Online

Washington State City and County Codes
Also includes some California and a few other out-of-state codes.

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For reference assistance, visit the Reference Desk on the Main Floor, telephone (413) 545-0150, or send email to Ask a Librarian. For further information on law materials contact Barbara Morgan, Law Reference Librarian, bmorgan@library.umass.edu