1776
- Pennsylvania legislature starts passing laws
- Text of laws published sequentially in Laws of Pennsylvania session laws
- No official statutory code created
1811
- John Purdon publishes the first edition of Abridgement of Laws of Pennsylvania
- Arranges current statutes by subject
1932
- 14th edition of Purdon’s Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania published
- Today’s Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes is a continuation of the structure used in this edition
- Sample citation: 29 P.S. § 31
- Never officially adopted by the Pennsylvania state legislature
1970
- Pennsylvania state legislature passes the “Commonwealth Documents Law” – starts official codification process of laws passed by state legislature
- Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is the official statutory code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- Sample Citation: 34 Pa.C.S. § 2306
- Legislature starts moving statutes from the Pennsylvania Statutes to the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes
- State still in the process of moving statutes from the Pennsylvania Statutes to the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes
- 19 (26%) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes titles fully implemented
- 23 (31%) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes titles partially implemented
- 32 (43%) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes titles contain no statutes
- Some laws still found only in Pennsylvania Statutes
- To do a comprehensive search of Pennsylvania statutory law, you must search both the Pennsylvania Statutes and the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes
- Databases allow users to search Pennsylvania Statutes and the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes simultaneously
- Index from print Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes and Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated and Westlaw will point you to correct statute
- Important to make sure that you are citing the correct resource
- Ex: cite 29 P.S. § 31, NOT 29 Pa. C.S.A. § 31