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Understanding Citations to Cases, Statutory Codes & Legal Periodicals

Simple explanation of the elements of a legal citation.

Statutory Code Citation Elements


There are several elements to a basic statutory code citation.  Each state has its own statutory code and formats differ, consult Table T.1 of the Bluebook for each state. 

  • Title or chapter
  • Abbreviation of the statutory code
  • Section
  • Publisher (if unofficial)
  • Date

These elements are labeled in the examples below:

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