Administrative Law
by Deborah Showalter-Johnson, Branch Librarian, Kansas City
Introduction | Statutes | Federal Regs & Rules | State Regs & Rules | Agencies |
Agency Decisions/Publications | Treatises | Law Reviews & Periodicals |
Related Research Links | Associations/Organizations | Blogs
Government agencies are created and receive power from either Congress, on the Federal level, or by state legislatures. They act as agents for the executive branches of the respective government and work to carry out public programs. Administrative law is determined by the rules, regulations and decisions issued by these agencies.
Government agencies are bound by the U.S. Constitution and within individual states by state constitution. Constitutional and congressional limits to agency powers can be found in statute law. The Administrative Procedure Act as detailed by 5 U.S.C. § 500 et seq. (1946) (5 USC Subchapter II) was passed by congress to create uniformity in the practices and procedures federal agencies. This Act and succeeding laws are often referred to as Federal Administrative Procedure Act (FAPA). FAPA is the basis for most regulatory law. Comparable state laws may also exist.
Administrative Procedure Act 1944-1946: available in Hein Online
Administrative Procedure Act: US Code Title 5, Chapter 5: available on Findlaw, LII, House of Reps
E-Government Act of 2002 ( Public Law No: 107-347): parts available at Title 44, Section 3501 et al.: Thomas, Findlaw, LII;
Freedom of Information Act US Code Title 5, Section 552
Paper Source: The U.S. Code and The U.S. Code Annotated (West) are held by all 8th Circuit libraries. The U.S. Code Service is held by all 8th Circuit libraries except Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.
Federal Regulations, Rules, Forms
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Official Site from GPO Access; also see GPO’s new e-CFR site;
Also available on LII, and Findlaw (search by keyword or citation)
Paper Source: Code of Federal Regulations and List of Sections Affected; KF 70 .A3
Available in all 8th Circuit libraries. (Back years may be in Microform format)
Note: “List of Sections Affected” (LSA) lists CFR Titles, Parts, Sections that have been changed since publication of the of the most current volume. LSA will provide the Federal Register cite for the change.
Federal Register
Official Site from GPO Access
Also available on Hein Online, LLMC Digital
Paper source: Federal Register, KF 70 .A2 Available from St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Fargo (Back issues may be in Microform format)
State Statutes, Regs, and Rules (8th Circuit States only) - Use the Westlaw and Lexis Database directories under each state to find the exact identifier for the specific type of information needed as there are numerous relevant databases.
Missouri: Statutes Regulations
Nebraska: Statutes Regulations
Arkansas: Statutes Regulations; Weil’s Code of Arkansas Rules (a hard copy resource) is the complete collection of Arkansas’ Administrative Rules. Published since 2000, the Code of Arkansas Rules is touted as the only COMPLETE edition of the rules available in print or online.
Minnesota: Statutes Regulations (go to the bottom of the linked page for rules)
Iowa: Statutes Regulations
North Dakota: Statutes Regulations
South Dakota: Statutes Regulations
Agencies (Freedom of Information Act US Code Title 5, Section 552)
Search for or View agency web sites via GPO Access, LSU’s Agency Directory , WashLaw’s Index
Library of Congress - Official US Executive Branch Web Sites
U.S. Government Manual - Main Page (Online directory of all federal legislative, judiciary, and executive agencies. Available in print at all 8th Circuit libraries except Cedar Rapids.)
GPO’s Regulations.gov -
“Regulations.gov is the U.S. Government web site that makes it easier for you to participate in Federal rulemaking .... On this site, you can find, review, and submit comments on Federal documents published in the Federal Register.” Note: This site is in process; not all agencies may be loaded; not all agencies may be using electronic filing; not all documents may be online; not all searches bring up all documents.
(Always check an agency’s web site to see if they provide access to administrative decisions! You can also check Westlaw and Lexis directories under the desired agency listing!)
University of Virginia’s Administrative Decisions page (Organized by subject)
Rutgers Federal Law site links to Administrative Decisions
Agency Publications - Index
Publisher Domains in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
GPO Bookstore
Statistics from various agencies - Statistical Abstract of the United States
General Accounting Office (GAO) “Legal Products” page.
General Accounting Office (GAO) “Reports and Testimony” page
U. S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys’ Manual (Also available on the library shelves in St. Louis, Kansas City and Fargo.)
U.S. Trustee Program (Rules, Decisions, Guidelines Policies)
Office of Management and Budget
OMB Circulars
OMB Bulletins
Administrative Functions in the Federal Trial Courts and the Challenges of Change. National Academy of Public Administration (KF8732.A73 A35 1996); Available in Little Rock (For link to NAPA see associations list)
Administrative Law, Matthew Bender, 6 volumes, looseleaf; Available in St. Louis, Des Moines, St. Paul, Little Rock, Kansas City (KF 5402 .M4); Available on Lexis - ADMLAW
Administrative Law, Hornbook Series, 1993, Available from Little Rock, Minneapolis (KF 5402 .A8 1993); Available on Westlaw - AD-TP
Administrative Law Treatise, 3 volumes, 2002; Available from St. Louis, Des Moines, Fargo, Kansas City, Minneapolis (KF 5402 .D32 2002)
Administrative Rulemaking; Available in Omaha and Kansas City (KF 5411 .O73)
Administrative Law and practice, 1997; Available from Lincoln, Kansas City (KF 5407 .K63 1997)
Westlaw (ADMLP)
Administrative Law and Process in a Nutshell 4th, 1997; Available from St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Paul (KF 5402 .Z9 G4 1997)
Missouri Administrative Law 3rd, 2000, 2 volumes, looseleaf; Available from St. Louis, Kansas City (KFM 8240 .M572)
Reauthorization of the Administrative Conference of the United States [microform] : hearing before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, second session, May 20 and June 24, 2004. Y 4.J 89/1:108/109: Available from St. Louis and only on Microfiche.
West’s Federal Administrative Practice - WEST-FDADM
Administrative Law Journal (no longer published - merged with Administrative Law Review on 1996)
Available on Lexis - ADMLJ
Administrative Law Journal of the American University; Available on Westlaw - ADMLJAMU
Administrative Law Review; Available from St. Louis and Kansas City.
Available on Hein Online; Westlaw - ADMLR; Lexis - ADMNLR
ABA’s Administrative and Regulatory News; Available on Westlaw - ADMRLN
Journal of The National Association of Administrative Law Judges; Available on Lexis - NAALJ
Widener Journal of Public Law; lapsed as of 10/01 issue, available from St. Louis only; Available on Westlaw - WIDLJ; Lexis - WIDJPL
Law Library of Congress - United States Executive Agencies and Regulations (links to Government and University pages including the LSU site listed above.)
Law Library of Congress’ Administrative Law Guide
Cornell Law’s Legal Information Institute (LII) - Administrative Law Guide
University of Miami - Federal Administrative Law and Regulation; Has an excellent introduction to rulemaking and administrative law.
FindLaw Administrative Law Page:
WashLaw’s Administrative Law Links
Jurist Administrative Law page (University of Pittsburgh School of Law - Appears to be course related)
Georgetown Law Library’s Administrative Law Guide (Click here for their Admin Law Tutorial)
Megalaw.com’s Administrative Law page (This site has links to other sites. Some of the sites are good links, but other links are dead, especially the FOIA.)
American Law Sources Online - This site is for Canadian and US Law, but the link is US only.
CALR:
Lexis: ADMIN LAW
Westlaw: ( FADMIN-ALL)
Please check the appropriate Database Directory for other related databases.
Associations/Organizations (Association and Conference)
ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
ABA Administrative Procedure Database (Florida State University College of Law - Lists sites and is a discussion for Administrative Procedure ACTS.)
National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary
Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference
Association of Administrative Law Judges
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws -
Model State Administrative Procedures Act, 2005 (Preliminary Report; For Discussion Only)
National Academy of Public Administration
These tend to be by subject or type of law and may include both legislative and administrative law. Below are some samples of law blogs by subject. WARNING: blogs are not necessarily even-handed. Most, if not all, have a bias or slant. For example, consider the AARP site below. AARP will obviously be posting information not just of interest to seniors but will select items that push the AARP agenda. Be just as discriminating when reading blogs as you would be listening to the news or surfing the web.
LawMemo.Com (Employment Law)
AARP Issues Blog (Social Security)