The statute update is performed annually in an effort to ensure we capture amendments to our collection of laws. While engaged in the update, we often find new laws to add or even chapters that may enhance our library. Each law that has had any sort of amendment or law added at the end of a chapter MUST be catalogued. In other words, as you are going through your assigned laws to check, please keep a separate document listing the state and which laws were amended. The associate editor then uses these to compile a listing of statutory changes during the previous year. The associate editor must also make changes to maps, tables of comparative laws, and other documents.
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to complete this process.
1. You will likely be assigned an entire state to check for amendments. The easiest way to do this is to use the purple Navigation Bar. Simply select Statute from the Legal Materials pull-down and the appropriate State from the State/Federal pulldown.
2. Open Westlaw. You will be entering the citations from our website to check against the WL version.
3. Select a file from the list of state laws. It is best to start at the top.
4. Click on New Draft.
5. Go to the Primary Citation field and copy the citation. Note you may have to do this several times to get all the laws.
6. Paste that citation into WL. Once the statute is pulled up, compare the last date in the “Credits” field at the end of the law.
7. If these Credits match what we have on our copy of the law, there have been no amendments.
8. IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH A WHOLE CHAPTER OF LAWS, YOU MUST, MUST, MUST CLICK THE ARROW THAT ADVANCES THE SECTIONS TO SEE IF LAWS WERE ADDED AT THE END OF A CHAPTER OR THE BEGINNING OF A CHAPTER. STATES ARE VERY SNEAKY AND WILL ADD A NEW “STATEMENT” OR “DEFINITIONS” SECTION AT THE BEGINNING SOMETIMES. LIKEWISE, THEY MAY ADD NEW SECTIONS TO THE END OF A CHAPTER. JUST KEEP GOING THROUGH THE CHAPTER UNTIL YOU GET TO A NEW ONE TO ENSURE YOU HAVEN’T MISSED ANYTHING. Another way to check for additions to a whole chapter of laws is to the click the Table of Contents button near the advancing arrow icons. This will show any new sections at the end or beginning.
9. If there are no changes to the law, change the “Last Checked” field to the current month and year.
10. Click Save and that’s it.
11. IF THE CREDITS LIST AN AMENDMENT DATE THAT IS NEWER THAN OUR LISTED CREDITS, YOU MUST REPLACE THE TEXT OF THE LAW.
12. To change the text of the law, you must copy both the text of the law AND the Credits listing into a PLAINT TEXT FILE. After that, paste THE PLAIN TEXT onto the Statute Text field of the database. Make appropriate adjustments to paragraph spacing and indenting.
13. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW MAY ALSO CHANGE THE TITLE/NAME OF THE LAW. YOU MAY NEED TO CHANGE THAT IN THE STATUTE TEXT FIELD (ESPECIALLY IF A COLLECTION OF LAWS – CHANGE THE BOOKMARKED TOC AND THE NAME BELOW). YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO CHANGE THE TITLE FIELD AND POSSIBLY THE FULL STATUTE NAME FIELD.
14. On a separate Word or Notepad document, copy the citation and put it under the heading of the state:
Michigan
MCL 200.123 – amended
MCL 900.999 – repealed
15. You may come upon a law that has not been published/formally codified. It will show a Red Flag with a link to the enacted bill. Please bring this to my attention. You may try your hand at adding this. To do this, you literally copy the text of the bill with all the strikeouts and highlights and paste that ABOVE THE OLD TEXT on our database. DO NOT COVERT TO PLAIN TEXT. Then, below that you will write, “Former Text.” This shows the old version you saved. Above the new amendment that you just pasted, write “AMENDED 2017.”
16. IF A LAW HAS BEEN ENTIRELY REPEALED, PUT THE REPEALED NOTICE NEXT TO THE TITLE OF THE LAW. IF IT IS PART OF A WHOLE CHAPTER OF LAWS, BE SURE TO ALSO PUT REPEALED IN THE BOOKMARKED TOC. Where the actual law is located in the file, put the repealed notice. Then, below that, put the phrase "Former Text" above the old version. It will look something like this:
§§ 128-1 to 128-34. - Repealed by Laws 2014, ch. 111, § 24, eff. July 1, 2014
Former Text:
(a) The governor shall prescribe rules, pursuant to section 128-27, for the purpose of establishing criteria, requirements, conditions, and limitations for providing suitable arrangements and accommodations for the sheltering of pet animals in public shelters under this chapter.
(b) The director of civil defense shall identify, in coordination with other organizations engaged in civil defense functions relating to providing shelter, or the management or operation of a public shelter under this chapter, those public shelters that are suitable for the sheltering of pet animals.
(c) The director may also identify, in coordination with private owners, operators, or controllers of real property, private shelters that are suitable for the sheltering of pet animals; provided that any private shelter so identified shall not be subject to the rules prescribed by the governor for the operation of a public shelter that has been identified for the sheltering of pet animals pursuant to subsection (b).
(d) A public shelter identified for the sheltering of pet animals pursuant to subsection (b) need not be subject to the criteria developed pursuant to section 5 of Act 5, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, unless the particular shelter has been specifically identified as a shelter for both pet animals and the public.
(e) For purposes of this section, “pet animal” shall have the same meaning as defined in section 711-1100.
Credits Laws 2006, ch. 117, § 2.
This file is an example of what to do if laws are repealed: https://www.animallaw.info/statute/vt-fur-chapter-173-domestic-fur-bearing-animals
17. If you come upon a law or set of laws that has not been indented, PLEASE ADD INDENTS. We have tried to do this throughout the years and it takes time. Any help with this is appreciated. Also, you may come upon some statutes with obvious code left from a non-plain text pasting from WL. Please just let me know those files in a separate list.
18. THERE MAY BE FILES THAT ARE NOT TRADITIONAL STATUTES INCLUDED ON THE LIST OF LAWS FOR A STATE. THESE MAY BE HISTORICAL LAWS, BALLOT INITIATIVES, OR CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. IGNORE THESE FILES. DO NOT CHECK THEM OUT OR UPDATE THE "LAST CHECKED" FIELD. ESSENTIALLY, IGNORE THESE FILES.
19. Let me know when you get through a particular state before going onto to another state. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING OF WHICH YOU ARE UNSURE.