The laws of Pennsylvania include more than just the Constitution and the statutes passed by the legislature. Judicial decisions make up the case law that sets precedent for future court cases. In addition, the regulations and rules set by government agencies make up the administrative law.
In Pennsylvania, the administrative law is codified in the Pennsylvania Code. Library patrons might need to consult the PA Code to find a rule set by a state agency, such as the PA Department of Education’s rules regulating public schools, or the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s conservation regulations. The Pennsylvania Code is divided into 40 topical areas called “titles”, which mostly match the same titles used in Pennsylvania’s consolidated statutes titles.
Sometimes you might see a citation in a legal document to the Pennsylvania Code, which would take the form of [title number] Pa. Code § [section or chapter]. For example, 22 Pa. Code §141.25 is the basic standards for local libraries set by the state of Pennsylvania.
Updates to the Code are published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin before being enacted, to provide the public a chance to comment on the proposed rule changes. Once finalized and adopted, updates to the Code are published in the Pennsylvania Code Reporter, a looseleaf supplement to the Pennsylvania Code.
The Pennsylvania Bulletin also includes other official government notices, such as proclamations and executive orders from the governor, agency notices and court rules.
Citations to the PA Bulletin take the form of [volume number] “Pa.B” [page number] ([date]), for example 54 Pa.B 1654 (March 30, 2024) was a proposed change to the PA court system’s Rules of Civil Procedure.
ACLL patrons can find both the PA Code and the PA Bulletin in print in our Main Reading Room. Both resources are also available online at PAcodeandbulletin.gov. On the PA Code’s website, you can browse by title or volume number or search the contents of the Code and Bulletin using the search box.
The PA Code website only has the PA Bulletin going back to 1996. Older volumes of PA bulletin are available from the Pennsylvania State Library.
If you have further questions about the Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin, the ACLL’s staff are happy to help. If you’re interested in doing further legal research, you will want to sign up for a membership with the ACLL and a library card from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, to get access to the many legal resources we can provide.