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Legal Research

This guide will provide basic legal information that can be found in the NMSU Library and elsewhere on the internet.

Finding Federal Regulations

There are three parts to the enaction of a regulation:

The Initial Rule takes the law passed by Congress and disseminates it to the rest of the government.  Rules can be made on any topic but only when the agency has been directed by Congress through Statutory Law.  Initial rules can be found in the Federal Register, Regulations.gov, and at specific Agency websites.

Regulation additions or changes then have a public Comment Period

Finally, the rule is Enacted.  Once a rule is approved by the governing agency, it is incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations.

Finding Executive Orders

Executive Orders, Proclamations and veto or passage messages can be found at the following places: