Laws of New York (N.Y. Laws)
Only the most-recent chaptered laws are available. Access is provided through a list of chaptered laws (click on “Chapters”).
Consolidated Laws See also the unconsolidated laws (scroll down in the bottom frame). This official web site presents a clunky interface using JavaScript. The FindLaw interface (see Additional Resources, below) is better but might not return the most-current data.
Ordinances are local laws, commonly organized into codes, that have been enacted by municipalities — cities, towns, etc. — and counties. Charters are organic laws (similar in function to a constitution) of those local government entities for which “home rule” is authorized by state law. For local laws not found through the links given here, try the county web sites and municipality web sites at “State and Local Government on the Net” by Piper Resources, or a publisher’s web site:
Charters
Note that a charter could be included in a collection of ordinances (see below) instead of being separately accessible.
County Ordinances
Click on the button keyed to the name of the county. NOTE: On some web sites, selecting the state is necessary for access to the ordinances link.
Municipal Ordinances (Except New York City)
Click on the button keyed to the name of the municipality. NOTE: On some web sites, selecting the state is necessary for access to the ordinances link.
New York City Local Laws
Additional Resources
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New York City Charter, Administrative Code, and Rules [New York Legal Publishing Corp.]
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New York City Building Code [New York City Department of Buildings] — Links to related materials including information on the electrical code (with the code text) and links to the department’s policy and procedure notices (back to 1987) are provided on the same page. ¶
New York City Zoning Resolution [New York City Department of City Planning] — Access to the text of the resolution (which is the city’s zoning ordinance) and access to zoning maps.
East European Constitutional Review (E. Eur. Const. Rev.) [New York Univ. Sch. of Law] — The constitution-making process in the post-Communist nations of Eastern and Central Europe, from the perspectives of political science, legal theory, and the sociology of law.
New York University Annual Survey of American Law (N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L.) [New York Univ. Sch. of Law] — This journal “is dedicated to exploring contemporary legal developments in the United States. Annual Survey articles analyze emerging legal trends, interpret significant recent court decisions and legislation, and explain leading legal scholars’ and judges’ perspectives on current legal topics.”
Center for New York City Law [New York Law Sch.] — “The Center for New York City Law was founded in 1993 by New York Law School Professor Ross Sandler. The academic and public mission of the Center is to provide information about, and analysis of, the laws and legal processes that govern New York City. The Center’s ultimate goal is to make the City’s government and decisions more fair, comprehensible and open to the public. . . . The Center writes and edits publications; sponsors events, courses and symposia; develops urban government courses and curricula; maintains a research-based Web site [which is linked here]; and owns a specialized New York City Charter and government library.”
Collateral Consequences of Criminal Charges [Columbia Univ. Sch. of Law] — “The collateral consequences of criminal prosecutions are growing in number, scope and duration. These consequences are frequently hidden, making it extremely difficult for judges, practitioners and the public they serve to fully appreciate what lies ahead. [¶] Our mission is to create an online collaborative forum where judges, lawyers and scholars can learn more about collateral consequences. Here, you will find high-quality content managed by experts in the major areas of New York law where collateral consequences occur.”
Legal Handbook for Early Stage Business [Albany Law Sch.] — This publication provides resources and educational tools to address legal issues that may arise during early-stage business formation.
Practice Handbook on Certification of State Law Questions by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to the New York State Court of Appeals (2nd ed. 2006) [Advisory Group to the New York State and Federal Judicial Council] — “This is a revised edition of the Practice Handbook, which was developed by the Advisory Group to the New York State and Federal Judicial Council and originally published in 2000, to provide readily accessible guidance to attorneys litigating within the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit faced with the possibility that their clients may wish, or other parties may ask, the federal court to refer state law issues to the New York Court of Appeals for determination, or that the Second Circuit may certify state law questions sua sponte.”
See also links to state court web sites, maintained by the National Center for State Courts. Additionally, the Ballotpedia.org web site presents information about courts and judges in the state, covering both state courts and federal courts, in a Wikipedia-style format.
Business Entity Forms [Paracorp, Inc. (Cal.)] — Convenient interface to view and print in-blank official state forms (in PDF files) for filing by business entities. A JavaScript-enabled browser is required.
Department of Financial Services — Consumer Information Consumer-oriented information on topics such as financing the purchase of a car, predatory (sub-prime) lending, bank accounts, home mortgage loans, reverse mortgage loans, and insurance.
Bankruptcy Law and Procedures for New York Residents [Calicchia & Kinast LLP (Ohio)] — This web site, presented by a Cleveland bankruptcy law firm, covers basic information about the bankruptcy process, describes debt consolidation and credit counseling as alternatives to bankruptcy, lists the property that an individual is allowed to keep (with citations to governing provisions of New York law), and gives information about the bankruptcy courts and how to contact bankruptcy attorneys in New York.
WomensLaw.org — Sources of Legal Help [WomensLaw.org (N.Y.)] — Sources of legal help (not limited to legal help for women) include statewide domestic-violence resources, local domestic-violence resources listed by city or town, free or low-cost legal services, and lawyer referral services.
“The essence of legal research in two words . . . see ALSO!”