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Free Legal Research Resources

This guide contains selected free (or low-cost) online legal research resources. These resources are meant to act as a starting point for legal research when paid databases are inaccessible or unfeasible.

All States

Legal Information Institute: All States & Territories - Core legal material for each state and territory, including:

  • State Constitutions
  • Statutes
  • Pending Bills
  • Legislature
  • Judicial System
  • Court Rules
  • Opinions
  • State Administrative Code
  • Administrative Agency Directory
  • Official State Home Page / Portal
  • Attorney General
  • State Law Library
  • State Bar Association
  • LII Legal Encyclopedia Pages

 

FindLaw:

 

Justia:
Includes constitutions, codes, Attorney General opinions, Federal District and Court of Appeals decisions, legislative bills and commission (if available), and more.

State and Local Government on the Net
A directory of official state, county, and city government websites, leading to links to individual state judicial websites, court offices, and law libraries.

National Center for State Courts (NCSC)
NCSC maintains an index of links to state court websites. The site also includes charts that illustrate the court structure in each state.

National Conference of State Legislatures
This website includes a searchable database of state legislature websites.

Open States
Open States provides access to state legislative information like pending legislation and legislator votes, as well as the option to track state bills. The site was created by the Sunlight Foundation.

State Legislature Websites
Use the index or interactive map at Congress.gov to link to legislatures in states, territories, and the District of Columbia.

State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations
The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC has compiled contact information for state governments in its Legislative Source Book.

Law Library Resource Xchange (LLRX)
Browse or search state court rules, forms and dockets.

  • U.S. Law - Browse case law, codes, statutes, regulations, and more
  • Legal Forms - Browse by state or category (topic)

Ohio Law

Ohio Constitution

Current Ohio Constitution

The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission (OCMC)

The Constitutional Framework of Ohio State Government

FindLaw's Ohio Constitution - FindLaw's version of the Ohio Constitution is provided by Thomson Reuters Westlaw.

Ohio Constitution Guide - C|M|Law's guide to Ohio Constitutional Law and History.

 

Ohio Case Law & The Ohio Judicial System

The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System (Ohio Court Opinions)

Ohio Supreme Court Opinions (1992 - current) - Full-text searchable. (Use "Source" pull-down menu to choose court level).

Findlaw: Supreme Court of Ohio Cases (January 1997 - current) Findlaw also maintains an archive of Opinion Summaries since Sept. 2000 - the present.

Ohio Appellate Court Opinions (1992 - current) - Full-text searchable. (Use "Source" pull-down menu to choose court level).

Ohio Miscellaneous Court Opinions (1992 - current) - Full-text searchable. (Use "Source" pull-down menu to choose court level).

Court  of Appeals of Ohio Eighth Appellate District (1990 - current) - The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System website. (Adobe PDF format).

Search the 8th District Court of Appeals Opinions (Cleveland Law Library's Website (1990 - 2005)

 

Ohio Statutes & Regulations

Current  Ohio Revised Code (Unannotated) (Source: LAWriter)

Findlaw: Current Ohio Revised Code (Source: Thomson Reuters Westlaw - unannotated)

Ohio Session Laws - General Assembly 132

Ohio Session Laws - General Assembly 121

Ohio Administrative Code (Regulations) (Source: LAWriter)

A Guidebook for Ohio Legislators (15th ed., 2017-2018)

The Legislative Process in Ohio - How a Bill Becomes a Law

 

Miscellaneous Ohio Legal Resources

Legal Information Institute (LII): Ohio Legal Materials

Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA)

OSBA For Public Resources