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Step 1
Determine whether you are looking for a local, state or federal law.
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Step 2
Do you have a citation (abbreviation with numbers and letters that tell where to find the law, such as DRL 170) for the law? If you do, go to your local law library. There is one in each county, and any local law school will have a law library as well.
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Step 3
Find the area that contains whichever government's laws you are looking for. Laws are contained in Codes. For example, federal law is in the United States Code.
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Step 4
Consider the information you have. If you have a citation, which can be used as an address for where to find the law, it will look like this 42 U.S.C.A. 1490. Understand the 42 tells you the volume to look in and the 1490 tells you the section number of the law.
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Step 5
Realize that you might also have a citation that looks like this: DRL 257. This will be for your state's law. The letters are an abbreviation for the type of law it is, in this case, a domestic relations law. Look for the volume labeled with this abbreviation. The number refers to the section of the law you are looking for.
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Step 6
Are you trying to find out what law governs a particular situation? If so, you will need to do a little research. Find the books that contain the government's laws you are looking for.
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Step 7
Look for an annotated set, such as McKinney's Annotated Laws of Texas. Use the index in the last volume to look up the topic you are interested in. If you know what category the law falls under, such as criminal law, you could take out the volume on that topic and look through its table of contents.
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Step 8
Opt for another method such as using a legal encyclopedia, such as New York Jurisprudence (there is a set for each state). You can look up your topic and get a summary of the law on that topic as well as references as to where to find the actual law.
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Step 9
Use an online database, such as FindLaw, to locate a law. Go to the area for the state you are looking for and search your state's laws for the topic.
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Step 10
Ask for help! Law librarians know where to find things - it's their job! They will not mind helping you and can save you a lot of time.
