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New York Legal Research

Codes and Session Laws

A. Codes

Codes are subject arrangements of public session laws.  There are two authoritative, annotated, codifications of the laws of New York:  McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated and the New York Consolidated Laws Service.  Note:  A free, un-annotated version is available on the New York Courts website.

B. Session Laws

In New York, a new law, called a chapter law, is given a number according to the order of passage.  At the end of each yearly legislative session, all the chapter laws are arranged by number and printed in an annual volume called the Session Laws.  Session Laws include all types of legislation:  public, private, temporary and permanent.

B. New York Session Laws