United States Statutes at Large

United States Statutes at Large
Title page of volume 125
TypeSession laws, official journal and treaty series
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register
Founded1845 (1845)
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersUnited States

The United States Statutes at Large, commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large and abbreviated Stat., are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress.

Each act and resolution of Congress is originally published as a slip law, which is classified as either public law (abbreviated Pub.L.) or private law (Pvt.L.), and designated and numbered accordingly. At the end of a congressional session, the statutes enacted during that session are compiled into bound books, known as "session law" publications. The United States Statutes at Large is the name of the session law publication for U.S. Federal statutes.[1] The public laws and private laws are numbered and organized in chronological order.[2]

U.S. Federal statutes are published in a three-part process, consisting of slip laws, session laws (Statutes at Large), and codification (United States Code).

  1. ^ Bast, Carol M.; Hawkins, Margie A. (2013). Foundations of Legal Research and Writing (5th ed.). Clifton Park, New York: Delmar. p. 139. ISBN 9781285402604.
  2. ^ Public and Private Laws: About, United States Government Printing Office, archived from the original on January 5, 2010, retrieved November 20, 2009, At the end of each session of Congress, the slip laws are compiled into bound volumes called the Statutes at Large, and they are known as 'session laws.'