Search statutes and rules
search_statutesSearch statutes, COURT RULES and codes by citation or topic, for EVERY U.S. state plus federal. For a specific state, pass state="wi" (any two-letter code, all 50 states + DC) and a topic or section number; add kind="rule" for that state's court rules or kind="statute" for its code. Without state it searches only the kinds named in kinds (default: Florida). Handles citation lookups ("83.49", "174.02") and topic queries ("dog bite strict liability"). Each result carries currency (text_last_changed and, where recorded, last_amended_year / effective_date / status / successor) and corpus_currency gives each corpus's edition and current-through date. OPERATIVE DATE: statute text is the edition this corpus holds, not the law on every date. For a crime, a contract, a limitations period or a procedural step, establish the operative date first (offense, contract, accrual or filing date) and pass it as as_of (YYYY-MM-DD); say so when the text postdates the facts, since an older offense may be charged under a predecessor section. (as_of is taken by get_statute and check_citation.)
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| q | Yes | Citation or topic query, max 200 chars. With state, "quotation marks" require that exact phrase; other words are ranked, sections holding the most and rarest of them first, and match_mode says whether every row holds every word. | |
| kind | No | With state: scope to one source — "rule" (that state's court rules) or "statute" (its code). Omit to search both; the response's sources field lists what the corpus holds and how many rows of each. | |
| kinds | No | Used only when state is absent. Comma list of corpus kinds: statute (FL statutes), rule (FL court rules), fac (Fla. Admin. Code), ocga, usc, cfr, fedrule, sg, plus any state's own kind ("nc", "tx") and rules kind ("nc-rule", "tx-rule"). Default "statute,rule" is FLORIDA ONLY. | |
| limit | No | Max hits (default 5, max 25) | |
| state | No | Two-letter state code to search that state's corpus (e.g. wi, tx, ny, ca). Covers all 50 states + dc. That corpus holds the state's COURT RULES too in 44 of the 51 — all but ks, la, nh, ok, sd, vt, whose rules of procedure are codified as statutes. Also accepts state="fac" for the Florida ADMINISTRATIVE Code (agency rules such as 6A-6.03019) — state="fl" is the Florida Statutes. |