Updating the United States Code Service Using Print Resources
For this example, we will update 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 in the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) in print.
1. First check the main volume and note the publication date.
The U.S.C.S. is published by LexisNexis and has been since the late 1990s. Prior to that, it was published by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing and you may see references to Lawyers Cooperative in older volumes of the U.S.C.S. The publication date of the relevant and most current hardbound volume of the U.S.C.S. that contains 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 is 1996.
2. Note the pertinent information, including the historical source note which indicates when the statutory section was first passed into law and if it had been amended through the years.
This is 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 in the most current hardbound volume of the U.S.C.S. dated 1996.
Note the historical source note for 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707. It was first passed into law on September 6, 1966 by Public Law Number 89-554 § 1 which is found in volume 80 Statutes at Large page 500. You can see all the amendments to it by counting the semicolons. It looks like it has been amended 4 times between 1966 and 1996; however, the volume was published in 1996 and it is 2017, so we have to check any and all supplementation and see if there have been any amendments to 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 since 1996.
3. Check the annual pocket part or free standing supplement for the hardbound volume.
This is the April 2017 Cumulative Supplement (pocket part) to the 1996 volume that contains 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707. It bridges the gap from 1996 to 2017. The Chastek Library received this pocket part on May 03, 2017.
The inside cover indicates that the supplement covers legislation through the 2nd Session of the 114th Congress, which ended in 2016 with Public Law Number 114-329. It does NOT cover the 1st Session of the 115th Congress, which is the current session of Congress. That may be covered by the Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service and/or the U.S.C.S. Advance Service, depending on the time of year.
This is the April 2017 Cumulative Supplement (pocket part). Note that there is new text to 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 and by looking at the historical source note, there have been three amendments to 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707. These include:
Are we done? No, there are other things to check to bridge the gap to include materials from the 1st Session of 115th Congress.
4. Depending on the time of you may have to check something called the Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service. This updates the annual pocket parts and these generally are published quarterly.
The purpose of the Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service is to update the statutes and annotations in the April 2017 Cumulative Supplements (pocket parts).
So this is the July 2017 Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service and it updates the April 2017 Cumulative Supplements (pocket parts). It covers laws passed in the 1st Session of the 115th Congress, Public Law Number 115-1 to Public Law Number 115-30. The Chastek Library received July 2017 Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service on August 2, 2017.
There is nothing in the July 2017 Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service that updates 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707. There are no changes to the statutory section, nor are there any new annotations to cases or secondary sources.
The Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service’s purpose is to update both the statutory code section and the annotations in the United States Code Service.
Are we done? No.
5. Check the United States Code Service Advance Service which further updates the Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service. It is published monthly.
This is the United States Code Service Advance Service for September 2017. It contains a cumulative table that indicates changes to the United States Code Service. It is used because it updates the Cumulative Supplement (pocket parts) and the Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service. Recall that the April 2017 Cumulative Supplement (pocket parts) covered all Public Laws passed in the 114th Congress (up to Public Law Number 114-329). There was a July 2017 Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service that covered Public Law Number 115-1 to Public Law Number 115-30. The United States Code Service Advance Service update the United States Code Service even further. Depending on the time of year, you may have to check multiple United States Code Service Advance Services. They are published each month. The Chastek Library currently has three United States Code Service Advance Service (July, August, and September) and these three cover from Public Law Number 115-31 to Public Law Number 115-45.
The sole purpose of the United States Code Service Advance Service is to update the statutory language of the United States Code Service. It doesn’t update the annotations to cases, secondary sources, and other materials found in the annotations of the United States Code Service.
This is the cumulative table in the United States Code Service Advance Service for September 2017. It indicates if recent legislation has added, amended, repealed, or otherwise affected the United State Code Service. It is arranged by United States Code Service title (1-54).
Note that it covers Public Law Number 115-1 to Public Law Number 115-45.
We will look at Title 5 to see if there is anything affecting 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707.
As you can see, there are has been an AMENDMENT to 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707 by Public Law Number 115-34, § 3. We have to find the volume of the United States Code Service Advance Service that contains Public Law Number 115-34. It isn’t the September 2017 United States Code Service Advance Service because that covers Public Law Number 115-44 to Public Law Number 115-45. We have to check either the July or August 2017 United States Code Service Advance Services to find the full-text of Public law 115-34.
6. If there is a change, check the appropriate issue of the 2017 United States Code Service Advance Service.
The July 2017 United States Code Service Advance Service contains the Public Law Number 115-31 to Public Law Number 115-37, so it contains Public Law Number 115-34.
In the July 2017 United States Code Service Advance Service, we see the text of Public Law Number 115-34, § 3 that amends 5 U.S.C.S. § 5707.
In summary, to update a print statutory code (in this instance an annotated statutory code – United States Code Service published by LexisNexis) we had to check the following:
All in all, this is a time consuming and cumbersome process.
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