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Free Internet Legal Research: State Statutes

This guide is designed to direct you to resources for conducting free online legal research.

Illinois Compiled Statutes

ILGA.gov is the official site of the IL Compiled Statutes.

Tip: Do NOT use the "Search by Keyword" box on the right side of the screen. This actually searches all the bills introduced before the General Assembly. Instead, click on the Search link at the top of the screen to search the statutes.

Other State Statutes

The State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations website serves as a portal to statutes of all 50 states.  It directs you to the relevant government agency responsible for publishing the code of each state, as well as other state government information links.  Compiled by the Law Library’s Society of Washington (LLSDC).

Updating Statutes

Don't forget to verify that the statute you are using is the current version of the law.  The IL General Assembly issues the following disclaimer regarding the version of the IL Compiled Statutes on ILGA.gov.

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law.

Another alternative is to use a citator such as Shepard's on Lexis or KeyCite on Westlaw to verify that you have the current version of the statute and that it is still good law.