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Administrative Law Research: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Resources to help you get started with Administrative law research.

Code of Federal Regulations

The Federal Register Act also provided for a codification of federal administrative regulations. That codification became The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which is essentially an annual compilation of final rules [regulations]

  • The first edition of the CFR was published in 1938, and it has since gone through many changes.
  • These rules are considered legally binding just as any statute.
  • The Office of the Federal Register publishes the CFR annually in 50 titles. The titles represent broad subjects of Federal Regulation. The titles are updated annually on a staggered basis.

There is a Table of Authorities and Rules in the CFR index which can be used to crosscheck the CFR with corresponding U.S. Code Citations, Statutes at Large Citations and Public Law Numbers.

Researching the Code of Federal Regulations

In order to be thorough, you must look at all parts within the chapter or the table of contents and index to that part. Other sections might also affect the section that is being used including definitions, exceptions, effective dates, general rules, etc.

Tips on Searching the Print CFR

The following tools may be of assistance when searching the Code of Federal Regulations

  • CFR Index and Finding Aids
  • West CFR Index (Reserve KF70.A34 W47)
  • Browse CFR by Agency and Title
  • Secondary Sources cover agencies in depth 
  • USCS refers to CFR sections

Updating the Code of Federal Regulations

Update Frequency

The code itself is revised each year in 4 different parts on the following schedule:

Titles 1-16 updated on January 1

Titles 17-27 updated on April 1

Titles 28-41 updated on July 1

Titles 42-50 updated on October 1

List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) & CFR Parts Affected

Updates are published in the List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) which is published monthly in The Monthly LSA. The LSA is organized by CFR title and part and contains references to the Federal Register. The List of Sections Affected allows for regulation tracking and currency of regulations. It provides information on how the CFR parts have been affected, by section. The LSA is compiled periodically, with the last having The 1986-2000 LSA compilation can be found through FDsys. The monthly List of Sections Affected is available through FDsys from 1997 to the present.

In addition, each Federal Register issue contains a list of CFR Parts Affected that month, and annual compilations are published in the last Federal Register of the month.

Both show the CFR citations to the Federal Register proposed and final rules.

These aids should be used to cross reference the CFR with specific page number references in the issues of the Federal Register. 

E-CFR Updates

The GPO's E-CFR Beta site also contains updates to the CFR: http://www.ecfr.gov/

Other Sources for Updates

Agency websites may also contain proposed and newly finalized rules.

KeyCite and Shepard’s contain update information and can inform as to whether a federal court has ruled the regulation unconstitutional or invalid. 

RegulationsPlus™ by Westlaw may have the most up to date information available. 

Databases

LexisAdvance

Contains the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Westlaw

The Current edition of the CFR can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations - Current  Version (CFR) database.
The Code of Federal Regulations - Historical database has copies of the CFR back to 1984. 
The Westlaw Directory also lists the Code of Federal Regulations Organized by Area of Practice. 

HeinOnline

The HeinOnline Federal Register Library has the current edition and historical copies of the Code of Federal Regulations.

ProQuest Regulatory Insight

ProQuest Regulatory Insight has copies of the current Federal Register and historical iterations back to 1938. 

Online Sources for the CFR

The Code of Federal Regulations is also available online in various different formats:

Finding the Code of Federal Regulations @ the Pence Law Library

Print copies of the Code of Federal Regulations are available in the 3rd Floor - Federal Section

The library only retains the current version of the Code of Federal Regulations in print.

The Code of Federal Regulations is also available in Microfiche Format as well. These materials can be requested from the off-site storage through the ILL feature.

In addition, Code of Federal Regulations provisions may be accessible through various topical commercial databases and looseleafs. See the Secondary Sources Page to see a list of relevant topical looseleaf materials and databases.

Citing the Code of Federal Regulations

Bluebook Rule 14.2 governs Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Citations Federal rules and regulations should be cited to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) by title, section or part, and year