Statutes are laws passed by a legislative body and usually arranged by subject. Read the definition of a statute as provided by Black's Law Dictionary.
Global Lex has prepared a A Guide to U.S. Federal Legal System that provides excellent information about research statutes.
The Law Library currently maintains in print copy of the United States Code, the Oklahoma and Texas statutes, and the Oklahoma Statutes Annotated.
Research guides are always a great starting point when researching any area of law. Two useful research guides on the topic of Federal Statutes:
Research Guide from Harvard University
Research Guide from NYU.
Two useful research guides on the topic of the Oklahoma Statutes:
Research Guide from the Library of Congress
Research Guide from Georgetown University.
A useful research guide for the Texas Codes:
Research Guide from the Library of Congress.
Legislative history is the material resulting from the process of a bill becoming a law in Congress. Some materials found when researching legislative history include text of the bill, amendments, reports, and debates. Read more about Legislative History from the Legislative History LibGuide linked below.
Codified Statutes and Session Laws
Session Laws are the publication of Congressional bills (and resolutions) and state legislation as they are passed by Congress or a state legislature. Codified statutes are the bills as they have been codified and are arranged by topic.
Official Statutes v. Statutes Annotated
Most jurisdictions publish an official statute series or set. These official versions contain very few extra research tools other than an index and select tables. Annotated statutes are commercial publications of the statutes with references to other sources of law, most often case law which defines, broadens, or narrows the scope of that statute. Annotations also provide references to law review articles, ALRs, treatises, and other research references.
Are Statutes Available Online?
Both Federal and State Statutes are available from online resources.
2. HeinOnline: U.S. Congressional Documents Library
Treaties and Agreements Library
3. FDsys.gov
