CHAPTER 8 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE RESEARCH

• Jurisdiction: United States

Chapter 8 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE RESEARCH

A. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW ORGANIZATION

The administrative function of the states is similar to that at the federal level. State agencies exercise power delegated to them through the governor or the state legislature. As government grows more complex at all levels, states require expanded administrative organization. The legal researcher should be aware of the daily importance of state administrative operations and be ready to locate any materials relevant to legal problems at the state level.

[1] Official Sources

State administrative materials, like their federal counterparts, take many forms. The governor's office issues orders and directives that will affect the operation of state agencies. State agencies issue licenses, orders, decisions, and rules interpreting and enforcing state statutes. Once again, these rules generally have the greatest impact of all administrative functions, and the alert researcher will be sure to check for the existence of such provisions. These provisions, however, do not exist in a vacuum and, like federal rules and regulations, are subject to interpretation by state and even federal courts. All research into state rules, then, will include the extra steps of finding any interpretive decisions, from state agencies and/or state and federal courts.

This process is complicated by the fact that publication of state administrative materials sometimes can be chaotic at best and nonexistent at worst. In addition, the pattern of publication is inconsistent from state to state. A few general statements, however, can be made about official publication of state rules and regulations. They generally appear first in a state "register" similar to the Federal Register. Such registers may be issued on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis, and some have no indexing system. The Texas Register, for example, is published weekly and includes proposed rules and regulations, items from the Governor, changes in or repeals of existing state rules, as well as a summary of state statutes enacted and summaries of attorney general opinions. The Texas Register includes annual and quarterly indices, available in print and online at the Secretary of State's website: www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg.

Every state now has an official administrative code arranged by subject matter. For example, the Texas Administrative Code (T.A.C.) is published annually by West for the state in 16 titles with 50 ultimately projected. Each title is...