Free legal websites

State Websites

Most states make legal information available to the public on their official websites including:

• State Code of Laws
• State Administrative Code (Regulations)
• State Court Structure

It is unlikely that state court opinions will be available there.

When looking for legal resources on a state's official website, use the search textbox using terms such as:

• statutes
• code
• courts
• court system
• court structure
• regulations

State court opinions are not posted on state websites. Consider searching Fastcase for state court opinions.

Google Scholar includes a search feature for federal and state case law. To perform a search for cases in Google Scholar:

1. Select the Case Law button beneath the search box
2. Select the jurisdiction. Note: It automatically defaults to the state where the Google Scholar is used.
3. Click "Select Courts" to display a menu of options and select the state or states of interest.
4. Type the case name or keyword describing your topic in the search box and click search.
5. Review the retrieved cases, and click on the case name to view the opinion in full text.

NOTE: Be sure to read the entire opinion and consider the case history and where it has been cited in other cases to evaluate whether it is still good law. Also, the cases in the database are not exhaustive.

View the tutorial the Library of Congress created to learn how to search case law in Google Scholar.