The United States Code is the topical compilation of what is printed in the Statutes at Large. The U.S.C. (United States Code) is the official version of the Code.  In addition, two "unofficial" or commercial editions of the Code are available : U.S.C.A.(United States Code Annotated) and the U.S.C.S.(United States Code Service).  The U.S.C.A. and U.S.C.S. contain everything that is printed in the U.S.C., including annotations to case law relevant to the particular statute.

All three versions of the Code are arranged in 50 subject titles. Titles are divided into chapters and then into sections.  Each version provides:
            a.  notes referring to the history of a law (after most sections);
            b.  a detailed index located in multiple volumes at the end of the set;
            c.  tables containing parallel references to the Statutes at Large.

For a complete listing of the titles of the United States Code, try the following websites: House of Representatives or Legal Information Institute at Cornell.

The U.S.C. is reissued approximately every six years with cumulative bound supplements published for intervening years. These supplements run about two years behind the current date. The U.S.C.A.and U.S.C.S.are updated by annual pocket parts and interim supplements, and are preferred over the official edition for their timeliness, easier access to updating a law, and annotations to case law.

Caution!

Only 23 titles of the U.S.C. have been enacted into positive (statutory) law.  These titles are 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 23, 28, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 44, 46, and 49.

When a title of the U.S.C. has been enacted into positive law, the text of the title is now legal evidence of the law.  Titles that have not been enacted into positive law are only prima facie evidence of the law.  In that case, the Statutes at Large still govern.

 For further information, check out the following website: Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

There are four approaches to locating statutes in the U.S.C.:

1. Using the Index

The subject index is the most usual approach to locating laws. Select the index volume and also the index in the most recent cumulative bound supplements to locate references to statutes enacted since the publication of the main index.

2. Popular Name Table

The 'Popular Name Table' approach is useful if you know the name of the Act and want to know where it was codified in
the U.S.C. Locate the volume with 'Popular Names' on the spine and find the table: 'Acts cited by Popular Name'; use the
'Popular Names Table' in the most recent bound supplement to locate references to the statutes enacted since publication of the
main volume. When you notice Acts that lack references to U.S.C. titles and sections, this indicates the entries have been
superseded or repealed. Earlier editions of the Code or the Statutes at Large volume where it was first published can be
consulted.

The 'Popular Name Table' can also be found online at the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University.

The researcher should also consult Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names, Federal and State (KF90 S52 1986) at the Reference Desk.

3. Titles

A list of the 50 titles is contained in the front of each U.S.C. volume. If you can determine which title you need, e.g., Title 39 --
Postal Service, turn to the 'Table of Titles and Chapters' (also in the front of each U.S.C. volume). You can further narrow your
topic by chapter/subchapter in the latter table and then select the volume containing your title. Be sure you have selected both the main volume and the bound supplement that contain your title; the supplement volume will have a roman numeral as well as the word "supplement" on its spine. Find your title and chapter in the main volume; use the Supplement to update your research. Keep in mind that the Supplement of the U.S.C. runs a few years behind the current date. To verify that you have the most current law, you may need to use one of the commercial editions.

4. Conversion Tables

Finally, the conversion table approach may be used. Locate the 'Tables' volume. Several tables may be consulted. The 'Revised Titles' table indicates titles of the U.S.C. that have been revised or renumbered since the 1926 adoption of the Code. Former and new section numbers are provided in this table.  The 'Revised Statutes 1878' table gives cross references from the first Federal Code (published in 1878) to the current Code which uses a different numbering system.

The Statutes at Large table lists Acts of Congress in chronological order and where they are codified in the U.S.C. Abbreviations indicate what happened to an act if it does not appear in the U.S.C.
 

Recent information on the status of a particular provision of the U.S. Code can be found in Shepard's Federal Statute Citations.

For information on how to use the Shepard's Citator Series, go to How to Shepardize.

West's U.S.C.A. employs the same titles and section numbers as the U.S.C., and in addition, supplies several other services. Following each section of the Code in the U.S.C.A., abstracts of relevant judicial decisions are provided. Citations to the major reporters are also included. These are the same abstracts that appear in West reporter headnotes and digests. Preceding the annotations in U.S.C.A. is usually a simple subject index to the annotations. Other services provided by West are historical notes, key numbers and references to legislative history in United States Code and Congressional and Administrative News, Corpus Juris Secundum, and to the Code of Federal Regulations.

The U.S.C.A. contains the full text of the U.S. Constitution as well as Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, Internal Revenue Code, and Court Rules for Federal Trial and Appellate Courts. The U.S.C.A. index is more detailed than that of the U.S.C.In addition, each U.S.C.A. title has an individual index. The 'Popular Names Table', located in the back of the last index volume, is helpful in locating a statute and/or code section by title of the Act. U.S.C.A. contains all the tables previously mentioned in the U.S.C. description.

Annual pocket parts update each volume of the U.S.C.A.  Quarterly soft-cover pamphlet supplements update the pocket parts.
 

The U.S.C.S. is very similar to the U.S.C.A. It is published by Lawyers Co-op/Bancroft Whitney. It was preceded by a similar compilation entitled Federal Code Annotated (1937-1972, Bobbs -Merrill). The U.S.C.A.receives annual pocket parts and quarterly supplements called 'Cumulative Later Case and Statutory Service' covering newer cases and legislative changes to statutes between annual pocket parts.

Also, U.S.C.S. provides monthly advance pamphlets that include texts of the new laws and tables indicating code sections that have been affected by this new legislation. Other services include: annotations to court decisions under statutory section; cross references to other Co-op publications, overall index, tables volume, procedural and court rules; popular name table of federal acts; index to the Code of Federal Regulations and federal agency rules.
 

1. U.S.C.A. provides more annotations to cases than U.S.C.S.
2. U.S.C.S. includes some cases not found in U.S.C.A.
3. U.S.C.S. annotations of cases are sometimes longer if the cases are considered particularly relevant.
4. U.S.C.S. preserves more closely the language and context of the original Statutes at Large text. This also means it deviates more from the text of the U.S.C.
5. U.S.C.S. provides cross references to many Lawyer's Co-op secondary sources and are more extensive than West's cross references.
6. U.S.C.S. is often more timely because of its monthly advance service.
7. U.S.C.S. provides agency procedural rules.