
What is the United States Code?
What is the United States Code? The United States Code, is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926.
How often is the United States Code updated?
A new edition is printed every six years and is supplemented annually. The United States Code is currently organized into 53 subject titles (titles 1-52 and 54, with title 53 in reserve) and includes an index and other supplementary tables. The predecessor to the U.S. Code was the Revised Statutes of the United States and was published in 1875.
When was the United States Code first published?
The United States Code was first published in 1926. A new edition is printed every six years and is supplemented annually. The United States Code is currently organized into 53 subject titles (titles 1-52 and 54, with title 53 in reserve) and includes an index and other supplementary tables.
How many laws are in the United States Code?
The United States Code, is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.

What year is the current United States Code?
United States Code, 1994 to Present.
What is the official U.S. Code?
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926.
What is the most current version of the U.S. Code?
Aug 01, 2022 5451. A new edition of the "official" U.S. Code (U.S.C.) is published every 6 years. Between editions, the U.S.C. is updated by bound supplements. A current official edition of the U.S.C. is available through the U.S. government site govinfo.gov.
How is the U.S. Code updated?
How current is the United States Code? For the online versions of the Code, currency information is provided on the Currency and Updating page. Generally, the print version of the Code is updated within six weeks to a year after the end of a session of Congress to include the laws enacted during that session.
When was U.S. Code last published?
The last main edition was published for 2006, and the current 2012 edition started shipping in 2013. Now arriving and shipping are the print volumes published as 2018 editions of the U.S.C!
Has the 2018 U.S. Code been published?
United States Code 2018, Supplement I, January 3, 2019. The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.
What is the difference between U.S. Code and CFR?
Unlike the Federal Register, the CFR contains merely the final and effective rules of Federal agencies and related official interpretations to the rules. It does not contain preambles, proposed rules, notices, or general policy statements found in the Federal Register.
Is the US Code the same as the constitution?
In addition to the sections themselves, the Code includes statutory provisions set out as statutory notes, the Constitution, several sets of Federal court rules, and certain Presidential documents, such as Executive orders, determinations, notices, and proclamations, that implement or relate to statutory provisions in ...
How often is the USCA updated?
The U.S.C. is published in full every six years, but cumulative bound supplements are issued each year in between. Publication of the full code and annual supplements may lag several years behind; for example, the Law Library didn't receive the complete set of 2006 U.S.C.
Is U.S. Code a statute?
For these titles, the U.S. Code is the statute and the U.S. Code considers the positive law titles as legal evidence of the law. When modifying an existing portion of positive law, Congress will directly amend the U.S. Code.
How many U.S. laws are there?
Looking back, there have been 88,899 federal rules and regulations since 1995 through December 2016, as the chart shows; but "only" 4,312 laws.
Who codifies the U.S. Code?
Office of the Law Revision CounselUnited States CodeNational coat of armsEditorOffice of the Law Revision CounselPublisherGovernment Publishing OfficeOCLC2368380TextCode of Laws of the United States of America at Wikisource
What is the difference between U.S. Code and CFR?
Unlike the Federal Register, the CFR contains merely the final and effective rules of Federal agencies and related official interpretations to the rules. It does not contain preambles, proposed rules, notices, or general policy statements found in the Federal Register.
Is the US Code the same as the constitution?
In addition to the sections themselves, the Code includes statutory provisions set out as statutory notes, the Constitution, several sets of Federal court rules, and certain Presidential documents, such as Executive orders, determinations, notices, and proclamations, that implement or relate to statutory provisions in ...
Is U.S. Code considered law?
The U.S. Code is the actual law that Congress enacted and it is also the legal evidence of the law. Further, for sections of the U.S. Code where Congress enacted the underlying statute before the applicable title became positive law, there is no longer any non-repealed statute to which to refer.
How do I list a U.S. Code?
U.S. Code: Table Of ContentsTITLE 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS.TITLE 2 - THE CONGRESS.TITLE 3 - THE PRESIDENT.TITLE 4 - FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES.TITLE 5 - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES.TITLE 5a - FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.TITLE 6 - DOMESTIC SECURITY.TITLE 7 - AGRICULTURE.More items...
In General
The United States Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (“OLRC”) of the U.S. House of Representatives pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b.
Printed Version
A complete new edition of the Code (“main edition”) is printed by the Government Publishing Office (“GPO”) every six years, and five annual cumulative supplements (designated as Supplements I through V) are printed in intervening years.
Online Versions
The online versions of the Code on this website are produced using the same database that is maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and from which the Government Publishing Office (GPO) prints volumes of the United States Code.
Additional Information
The United States Code- What it is... What it isn't... and What it could be
How to view the US code?
Finally, you may also choose to view the entire title by clicking on the “view” link to the right of each title. United States Code Collection (govinfo)
How to narrow your search by date?
To narrow your search by date, use the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of the page. U.S. Code Collection (Law Library of Congress) This collection, provided by the Law Library of Congress, provides access to the United States Code from the first edition (1925-1926), to the 1988 edition, plus supplements.
Is the US Code a positive law?
It is important to note that, unless otherwise stated in the source note, the United States Code is not “positive law.” In the case where a title has not been enacted into positive law, and there is a discrepancy between the language of the United States Code and the Statutes at Large, you should rely upon the Statutes at Large. For an explanation of positive law and a discussion of which titles have been enacted into positive law, visit Positive Law Codification on the Office of the Law Revision Counsel's US Code website. Back to text
When will the GPO edition of Carolina Law be released?
The 2018 Edition. In late 2019 , the GPO began releasing the 2018 edition in print. Our library here at Carolina Law has already received the first 8 volumes of this new edition, covering Titles 1-12.
What is Bluebook Rule 12.3?
Bluebook Rule 12.3 announces: “Cite the United States Code (U.S.C.), the official federal code, whenever possible.”. As a bit of background, the U.S.C. is compiled by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (OLRC), a Congressional bureaucratic office. The U.S.C. is printed by the Government Publishing Office (GPO), a separate Congressional agency.
Who published the United States Code?
As you can see in Table 1, the United States Code Annotatedis published by West and the United States Code Serviceis published by LexisNexis, so citations to statutes in each of these unofficial codes are as follows:
How many unofficial codes are there?
There are also two unofficial codes for federal statutes: United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.). These are both updated in print multiple times a year. Because Congress enacts news laws and amends and repeals existing laws frequently, you will often need to cite to one of these unofficial codes ...
What is a citation to a federal statute in one of the unofficial codes?
A citation to a federal statute in one of the unofficial codes is essentially the same as a citation to the United States Codewith the addition of the publisher (Rule 12.3.1(d)) and Table 1):
What are the unofficial codes for federal laws?
There are also two unofficial codes for federal statutes: United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.). These are both updated in print multiple times a year. Because Congress enacts news laws and amends and repeals existing laws frequently, you will often need to cite to one of these unofficial codes because the current version of a statute does not appear in the United States Codeyet.
What does U.S.C.A stand for?
U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. (abbreviation for the United States Code Annotated and United States Code Service in Table 1)
What is section number preceded by?
Section number preceded by the section symbol (§) and a space
Where to find the date of a supplement?
The date of the supplement or pocket part can be found on the spine of the volume or front page.

Overview
The Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes of the United States. It contains 53 titles (Titles 1–54, excepting Title 53, which is reserved for a proposed title on small business). The main ed…
Codification
The official text of an Act of Congress is that of the "enrolled bill" (traditionally printed on parchment) presented to the President for his signature or disapproval. Upon enactment of a law, the original bill is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). After authorization from the OFR, copies are distributed as "slip laws" by the Government Publishing Office (GPO). The Archivist assembles annual volumes o…
Versions and history
Early efforts at codifying the Acts of Congress were undertaken by private publishers; these were useful shortcuts for research purposes, but had no official status. Congress undertook an official codification called the Revised Statutes of the United States approved June 22, 1874, for the laws in effect as of December 1, 1873. Congress re-enacted a corrected version in 1878. The 1874 version of the Revised Statutes were enacted as positive law, but the 1878 version was not and …
Organization
The Code is divided into 53 titles (listed below), which deal with broad, logically organized areas of legislation. Titles may optionally be divided into subtitles, parts, subparts, chapters, and subchapters. All titles have sections (represented by a §) as their basic coherent units, and sections are numbered sequentially across the entire title without regard to the previously-mentioned divisions of ti…
Number and growth of federal crimes
There are conflicting opinions on the number of federal crimes, but many have argued that there has been explosive growth and it has become overwhelming. In 1982, the U.S. Department of Justice could not come up with a number, but estimated 3,000 crimes in the United States Code. In 1998, the American Bar Association said that it was likely much higher than 3,000, but did not give a specific estimate. In 2008, the Heritage Foundation published a report that put the number …
Related codifications
The Code generally contains only those Acts of Congress, or statutes, designated as public laws. The Code itself does not include Executive Orders or other executive-branch documents related to the statutes, or rules promulgated by the courts. However, such related material is sometimes contained in notes to relevant statutory sections or in appendices. The Code does not include statutes designated at enactment as private laws, nor statutes that are considered temporary in …
See also
• List of U.S. state statutory codes
• United States Reports
External links
• United States Code from the Government Publishing Office
• United States Code from the Office of Law Revision Counsel
• United States Code from Cornell's Legal Information Institute
• United States Code from OpenJurist