Oregon Legal Research

The Oregon Revised Statutes is a codification of the laws of Oregon. Codification means that the laws that are passed by the legislature are organized by topic and published. Oregon Revised Statutes can be found in several places: 

• Oregon Legislature's website. Oregonlegislature.gov is a free resource. From the home page, choose the Bills and Laws tab then the latest version of the Oregon Revised Statutes. 
• Westlaw access through the law library website (for law students and faculty only): From the home page, choose the "state materials" tab, then link to Oregon, and scroll to find Oregon Statutes and Court Rules. 
  • Westlaw also has an index to the Oregon statutes where you can search key terms to find relevant statutes
• Lexis access through the law library website (for law students and faculty only): From the home page, navigate to "state" then "Oregon" then scroll to find OR-LexisNexis Oregon Annotated Statutes. 
• Westlaw Campus Research access through the law library website (for the UO Community with Duck ID): From the law library databases page, choose Westlaw Campus Research from the general databases list. From the Home Screen, choose "State Materials" then Oregon and scroll to Oregon Statutes and Court Rules. 

A Bill is a proposal for a law. 

• The Oregon Legislature's website provides access to bills from years 2007-current year, as well as an archive of older bills from legislative sessions 1995-2006. 
• Westlaw accessed from the law library website (for law students and faculty only) has a collection of Proposed and Enacted Legislation containing a link to Proposed Legislation (Bills). From the Home Screen, choose "state materials," then Oregon, then scroll down to the Proposed and Enacted Legislation link. 
• Lexis accessed from the law library website (for law students and faculty only) provides access to OR Full-Text Bills and OR Bill Tracking Reports. From the Home Screen, navigate to State, then Oregon, then to the Statutes and Legislation section to find the two databases continuing bills.
• Westlaw Campus Research accessed from the law library website databases page (available to the UO Community with Duck ID) provides access to Proposed and Enacted Legislation. From the Home Screen, choose the "State Materials" tab, then Oregon, then scroll down to the Proposed and Enacted Legislation link to find Proposed Legislation.

Session Laws (Oregon Laws) are bills that have been passed by the House or Senate during each legislative session.

• The Oregon Legislature's website provides access to session laws from 1999-Current legislative sessions.
• Westlaw accessed from the law library website (for law students and faculty only) provides access to Proposed and Enacted Legislation containing a link to Enacted Legislation. From the Home Screen, choose "state materials," then Oregon, then scroll down to the Proposed and Enacted Legislation link.  
• Westlaw Campus Research accessed from the law library website databases page (available to the UO Community with Duck ID) provides access to Proposed and Enacted Legislation. From the Home Screen, choose the "State Materials" tab, then Oregon, then scroll down to the Proposed and Enacted Legislation link to find Enacted Legislation. 

The Oregon Legislature's website outlines the steps of how an idea becomes a law, from beginning as a Bill, following the bill's progress through the legislative chambers until it becomes codified in the Oregon Revised Statutes. 

The 1857 Oregon Constitution. Source: Oregon Secretary of State website.

Oregon Constitution. Source: Oregon Legislature's website.

Secondary Sources on the Oregon Constitution: 

Crafting the Oregon Constitution is a digital exhibit exploring the development of the Oregon Constitution. 

Legislative History of the Oregon Constitution of 1857- Part I (Articles I & II), by Claudia Burton and Andrew Grade. 37 Willamette L. Rev. 469 (2001). Available via HeinOnline for the UO Community. 

Legislative History of the Oregon Constitution of 1857 - Part II (Frame of Government: Articles III-VII), by Claudia Burton. 39 Willamette L. Rev. 245 (2003). Available via HeinOnline for the UO Community.

Legislative History of the Oregon Constitution of 1857 - Part III (Mostly Miscellaneous: Articles VIII-XVIII), by Claudia Burton, 40 Willamette L. Rev. 225 (2004). Available via HeinOnline for the UO Community.

State Constitutions Illustrated. Source: HeinOnline, for UO Community.