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LRAW Research Spring 2025

How are Regulations Found?

Three Finding Methods

Three methods for finding South Carolina regulations are:

  1. by citation,
  2. by table of contents, and
  3. by subject.

The examples below illustrate situations in which these methods can be helpful.

Finding SC Regulations by Citation

Scenario: You read in a secondary source that the way to claim prizes in the South Carolina Education Lottery is described in a regulation numbered 44-70.

Since you know the citation, you can enter 44-70 into the search box of Westlaw, Lexis, or the SC Legislature website to retrieve the regulation.

Scenario: You decide to use a citation to this regulation in legal writing that needs to conform to the Bluebook. 

In order to check that a citation is correct according to the Bluebook, you'll need to look it up in print.

A volume of the SC Code of Regulations. The spine indicates this volume contains regulations "R 44-10 to R 61-17" which includes the regulations of the South Carolina Lottery Commission.

You can locate a regulation by citation in the print South Carolina Code of Regulations by first finding the volume that contains the correct range of chapter and section numbers. The range is printed on the spine.

To confirm that you've cited the regulation correctly, you would choose the print volume featured at left, since the range listed on the spine (R 44-10 to R 61-17) includes R 44-70.

Two pages from the print SC Code of Regulations. At the top of the page, the agency name (Lottery Commission) is listed as well as guide numbers indicating that the pages include regulations "R 44-50.20" to "R 44-80."

You would then use the guide numbers at the top (at the top left is R 44-50.20, and at the top right is R 44-80) to help you turn to the page containing the correct chapter and section, R 44-70. See Citing SC Regulations for more details in the cite-checking process.

Finding SC Regulations by Table of Contents

Scenario: You have been asked to find the Lottery Commission's regulations on claiming prizes.

 

If you know the name of the relevant agency, it can be helpful to 

  1. start at the SC Code of Regulations' Table of Contents
  2. find the name of the agency as a chapter name, then
  3. locate the relevant regulation from within the list of that agency's regulations.

South Carolina Legislature: Table of Contents

On the South Carolina Legislature website, you can start at the SC Code of Regulations' Table of Contents by clicking on Code of Regulations.

Code of Regulations at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/

Then find the name of the agency as a chapter name by doing a ctrl+f or cmd+f search for Lottery Commission. (If you already know the chapter number, feel free to use the number.)

CHAPTER 44 - SOUTH CAROLINA LOTTERY COMMISSION Word PDF

Open Chapter 44 as a PDF version, then search using ctrl+f or cmd+f for Claiming Prizes.

searching PDF for Claiming Prizes leads to 44-70

Scenario: You've found the right regulation, but you "don't know what you don't know" about how to interpret it.

 

You should always check to see if surrounding sections may contain definitions, exceptions, or other important context that could affect the meaning of a particular section of the SC Code of Regulations. 

The Table of Contents lets you "zoom out" to see a regulation in context.

The Previous and Next buttons let you move section by section, forward or backward through the regulations, like turning pages of a book, to see a regulation in context.

Westlaw: Table of Contents

Once you have found a South Carolina regulation in Westlaw, such as R. 44-70 on "Claiming Prizes," you may think this is all you need to know about claiming prizes from the South Carolina Education Lottery.

However, R. 44-70 does not answer the question of whether someone must appear in person to claim a lottery prize. If your search results didn't lead you to it, how would you discover that R. 44-80 discusses "Assigning the Right to Claim a Prize?" We can suggest two ways:

  1. Check the Table of Contents and quickly skim the headings of related regulations in the same chapter, or
  2. Use the "Previous" and "Next" arrows beside the Table of Contents button, to see if the regulations immediately before and after affect the meaning of the regulation you've found.

44-70 on Westlaw, Table of Contents button and "Next Section" arrow highlighted

Lexis: Table of Contents

On Lexis, the Table of Contents menu is to the left, and the "Previous" and "Next" links are at the top left and top right.

44-70 on Lexis, Table of Contents button and Next arrow highlighted

Finding SC Regulations by Subject

Scenario: You need the regulations for South Carolina's state lottery. You don't know the specific agency or the citation. All you know is that the topic of the regulations you need is lotteries.

 

Westlaw and Lexis: Keyword Searching

Using keyword search on Westlaw or Lexis to find regulations by subject is similar to keyword searching for statutes. If you need a review, look back at Finding South Carolina Statutes on Westlaw and Lexis.

South Carolina Legislature: Keyword Searching

When you click on Code of Regulations on scstatehouse.gov, you don't immediately see a search box.

Code of Regulations at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/index.php

Click on "Search the Full Text of the Code of State Regulations" to get a search box.

"Search the Full Text of the Code of State Regulations at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/coderegs/statmast.php

 
Your search results will be a list of chapter numbers and agency names, with a short blurb containing one instance of your search terms. In the example below, there are 4 search results because four different chapters in the SC Code of Regulations contain the word "lottery." However, only the first search result is the chapter that contains all the Lottery Commission regulations.
 
The South Carolina Legislature website makes some unusual assumptions about keyword searches you type in the search box—unusual compared to Google, Westlaw, or Lexis keyword searches. If you're getting unexpected results (or lack of results) on the South Carolina Legislature website, we recommend clicking on "For help with formatting search criteria, click here."
New Search: lottery | For help with formatting search criteria, click here | 4 matches found when searching for 'lottery' in CODE OF REGULATIONS - Chapter 44. South Carolina Lottery Commission and 3 other chapters and agencies

 

Every chapter in your search results will automatically include arrows around your original search terms where each appears in the text. Click these arrows to navigate to each occurrence of these search terms in your results.

arrows to the left and right of each instance of lottery at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/query.php?search=DOC&searchtext=lottery&category=CODEOFREGS&conid=38012173&result_pos=0&keyval=8695&numrows=10

These arrows can be inconvenient when copying and pasting from regulations into a document. To get a clean copy without arrows, note which chapter it is (Chapter 44 here), then find the chapter by Table of Contents.

Westlaw: Find all Relevant Statutes and Regulations Using the Index

Another option when searching by subject in Westlaw is to use the index. There is not a separate index for SC regulations. All SC statutes and regulations are grouped by topic in one index. It can be convenient to find and read all related statutes and regulations on your subject, because you want to find all relevant rules.

To use the South Carolina Statutes Index for both statutes and regulations:

  1. Navigate to South Carolina Statutes & Court Rules.
  2. Select the link for the South Carolina Statutes Index on the right under Tools & Resources.Home > South Carolina Statutes & Court Rules - Tools & Resources > Index - South Carolina Statutes
     
  3. Either search in the box at the top, or click on a letter of the alphabet and scroll down in the alphabetical list. When you find a topic that looks relevant, click on it to see a list of links to related statutes and regulations.Search South Carolina Statutes Index in search bar, or select letter L and scroll down
     
  4. Links to statutes begin SC ST. Links to regulations begin SC Adc (for administrative code).Screenshot from Westlaw Edge, noting the entries in the SC Statutes Index under "Lotteries."