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LRAW Research Spring 2025

Updating the Official Print U.S. Code

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) publish a revised edition of the official un-annotated print (or "main edition" ) of the U.S. Code every six years. Between revisions, the GPO updates the official print U.S. Code with  five annual hardbound cumulative supplements (I-V). 

The 2017 Supplement V for the United States Code, consisting of six hard-bound volumes.
For example, the 2012 main edition of the official print U.S. Code was updated by Supplement I (2013), Supplement II (2014), Supplement III (2015), Supplement IV (2016), and Supplement V (2017). 
To check for amendments or the repeal of a statute, or to find new laws enacted after the print 2012 main edition was published (but before the current 2018 main edition), you would consult the latest hardbound print cumulative supplement for that title.
 

 

The House and the GPO are currently publishing hardbound cumulative supplements for the 2018 revised main edition of the U.S. Code. As of June 14, 2024, the Law Library has received Supplement I (2019), Supplement II (2020), Supplement III (2021) and Supplement IV (2022) for the 2018 main edition. All available titles of the U.S. Code can be found online through the House's OLRC website and the GPO's govinfo website (see below). 

The U.S. Code Online

The OLRC's United States Code website provides online access to the 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018 main editions of the U.S. Code and each edition as revised by individual supplements I through V. The first 25 titles of Supplement V (2023) for the 2018 main edition were available on this website as of June 13, 2024.

House of Representatives' Office of Law Revision Counsel website with drop-down menu to select different editions of the U.S. Code.

 

Updating Online
Federal statutes are enacted and amended by Public Laws. The Currency and Updating page of the U.S. House's Office of Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) website indicates through which Public Law and date the U.S. Code online is current. The  OLRC updates its online version of the U.S. Code throughout each congressional session and includes a currency note at the top of each section of the U.S. Code.

If an individual code section has been affected by any recently passed laws, a link is provided to view those laws in a list of "Pending Updates". If there are no pending updates listed, the section is current as shown. No Pending Updates link is provided for the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A below. The currency note at the top of the statute tells you that it is current through June 13, 2024.

Text that appears above 18 USC 1514A on OLRC website: 18 USC 1514A: Civil action to protect against retaliation in fraud cases Text contains those laws in effect on June 13, 2024 From Title 18-CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PART I-CRIMES CHAPTER 73-OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE Jump To: Source Credit Miscellaneous Amendments Effective Date §1514A. Civil action to protect against retaliation in fraud cases


The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) uses the OLRC's U.S. Code information for its "virtual main editions" on its govinfo website. The GPO certifies each page as authentic using an eagle logo that says "Authenticated U.S. Government Information." Govinfo's U.S. Code web page to browse by year.

Updating Print Annotated Codes (U.S.C.A. & U.S.C.S.)

 

Spine of a volume of the USCA and the front page of the 2019 Cumulative Annual Pocket Part

 

Each volume of the print unofficial annotated versions of the U.S. Code (U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S.) is updated annually by either a cumulative  pocketpart inserted in the back of that volume or a separate cumulative softbound supplement shelved next to it. These supplements to the hardbound volumes include any amendments or notice of repeal for individual code sections and any new research resources or case notes that have been added to a code section's annotations since the hardbound volume was last published.

 

Softbound supplementary pamphlets provided at the end of the U.S.C.A. and the U.S.C.S. for March and October 2019.

 

 

 

 

Between publications of the annual supplements for each volume, softbound supplementary pamphlets are provided at the end of the U.S.C.A. and the U.S.C.S. that provide the same updating information for each entire set (all titles and sections).

 

 

U.S.C.A. on Westlaw & U.S.C.S. on Lexis

The most up-to-date annotated codes are available on Westlaw  (U.S.C.A.) and Lexis (U.S.C.S.). Additionally, when using Westlaw or Lexis, you can use their citators to check for pending or very recent changes to a federal statute (See Updating Federal Statutes & Finding Other Resources Using Citators (KeyCite & Shepard's)).