Uniform Laws and Model Acts

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws has been involved in legislative reform activity since 1892. Three hundred practicing lawyers, judges, scholars, and government officials serve as commissioners at present. The Conference publishes UNIFORM acts, codes, and court rules, as well as MODEL acts. Legislatures are urged to adopt "uniform" acts exactly as written to promote uniformity in law among the several states. "Model" acts, in comparison, are intended to serve as guideline legislation which states can borrow from or adapt to suit their respective situations.

Single copies of individual uniform laws or drafts may be obtained by contacting the headquarters office:

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 915-0195
E-mail: nccusl@nccusl.org

INTERNET RESOURCES

Two important web sites are the home page of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws <www.nccusl.org> and the Drafts, Final Acts and Archive pages maintained in cooperation with the Biddle Law Library at the University of Pennsylvania <www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_frame.htm>. The home page contains organizational information and current information on selected uniform acts (press releases, legislative and enactment information). Both the Drafts and Final Acts pages have alphabetical indexes to the various uniform acts. A complete finding aid to the NCCUSL Archives is expected to be added to the university web site in late October 1999. The Conference is to be commended for its utilization of the Internet in making its archives, working papers, drafts and final publications so readily available.

WASHBURN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW CONNECTIONS

Richard C. Hite (Class of '53) served as President of the National Conference from 1993-95 and continues to serve as a Commissioner from Kansas as he has done since 1975. Elwaine Pomeroy (Class of '57) has been serving as a Commissioner since 1979. Washburn Dean James M. Concannon, appointed in 1998, is the third appointee representing Kansas.

MAJOR RESEARCH RESOURCES AT WASHBURN

The Law Library has three major and several other research resources relating to the work of the National Conference. Brief descriptions follow:

1. UNIFORM LAWS ANNOTATED (ULA) - MASTER EDITION Location: Res KF 165.A5

Kept on reserve, this set contains more than 160 uniform laws. For most laws, the following elements will be provided:

Table of Jurisdictions Wherein Act Has Been Adopted
Historical Notes
Commissioner's Prefatory Notes
General Statutory Notes
Outline of Act

For each section of a uniform law, these elements are usually provided:

Text
Official Comment
Action in Adopting Jurisdictions
Law Review Commentaries
Annotations or Notes of Decisions
Library References

An annual pamphlet comprising part of ULA Master Edition contains these helpful research aids:

Directory of Uniform Acts - gives locations in ULA Master Edition
Table of Jurisdictions listing Uniform Acts adopted
Table of Acts withdrawn
Cross Reference Index to Acts

ULA is also a database on Westlaw. For a database description, enter the scope command, "sc ula", while in the Westlaw directory. Consult the most recent Lexis-Nexis Directory of Online Services (alphabetical listing) for the library and file of a specific uniform act.

2. HANDBOOK OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS ON

UNIFORM STATE LAWS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Location: KF 165 .A2

The library has the annual Handbook and Proceedings from 1892 to date (1991 published in 1999). The Handbook contains a wealth of material. The 1991 Handbook, for instance, lists the following among its contents:

Alphabetical List of Commissioners
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws by State
Annual Meeting Program
Minutes of the Executive Committee
Scope and Program Committee Reports
Schedule of Drafting Committee Meetings
Uniform and Model Acts Approved, 1991 (text and comments)

The Appendix contains these selected items:

History and Scope of National Conference
Constitution and Bylaws
Rules of Procedure for Meetings of the National Conference
Drafting Rules for Writing Uniform Acts
Chart of Adoption of Uniform Acts by State

The Handbook contains a series of Tables in the Appendix that may be of assistance to researchers:

I. Acts promulgated by the National Conference which are at present recommended for

adoption by all jurisdictions as Uniform Acts

II. Model Acts promulgated by the National Conference

III. Other Acts promulgated by the National Conference

IV. Acts withdrawn because obsolete or superseded

V. Alphabetical list of all Acts drafted or endorsed by the Conference

VI. Acts drafted or endorsed by the National Conference arranged by subjects, showing

history and status

VII. Lists of states showing the Uniform Acts adopted therein

3. ARCHIVE PUBLICATIONS - microfiche cabinet in Microforms Room (KF 165.A23)

One of the special holdings in the library's collection is a set of over a thousand fiche containing all available transcripts of the Proceedings of each annual meeting, as well as the transcript of the discussions in the Committee of the Whole of each Uniform and Model Act. Also included are the "successive drafts" of each act.

A hard copy index to the collection (made available by Wm. S. Hein Co.) is kept on top of the microfiche cabinet containing KF 165.A23. Individual uniform acts are separately cataloged and appear in ATLAS, Washburn's online catalog. You may search by title of the act, by subject, or by the Hein index number. All titles in the series may be retrieved by a title search for "Proceedings of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws". For assistance in using the collection, contact a Reference Librarian.

OTHER RESEARCH AIDS

In addition to the three major resources just described, the law library has other sources that can facilitate research work involving uniform laws. The following table is a quick reference checklist:

STATUTORY CITATIONS

ALL STATES

ULA Master Edition, pocket part

Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name

KANSAS

K.S.A. General Index, "Uniform Laws"

COMPLETE TEXT

ULA Master Edition

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, United States Law Digest

Handbook of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws,

year of adoption

KANSAS

K.S.A.

STATE VARIATIONS

ULA Master Edition

IN TEXT

Respective State codes

DECISIONS CONSTRUING ALL STATES

ULA Master Edition, including pocket parts. To update,

consult bound volumes and advance sheets of National

Reporter System subsequent to cut-off volume indicated in

ULA pocket part. Individual uniform laws are listed under

"Uniform Laws" heading in "Statutes" table in front of each

bound volume or advance sheet.

INDIVIDUAL STATES

Shepard's Citations - shepardize the particular statutory

section number assigned in the state code.

KANSAS

K.S.A., including supplementary pamphlet. Update

by consulting subsequent Kan. and Kan. App.

bound volumes and advance sheets. Check

"Statutes Cited, Construed and Applied" table in

subject index at the front of each volume or issue.

Kansas Digest, vol. 11, pocket part, statutory

service tables. Uniform laws are listed by title

under "Uniform Laws Annotated" heading.

Shepard's Kansas Citations - shepardize using

K.S.A. cite

LAW REVIEW COMMENTARY

Uniform Laws - Generally

The Current Law Index - Use "Uniform State

Laws" subject heading.

Index to Legal Periodicals - use "Uniform Laws"

subject heading.

Uniform Laws - Specific Uniform Law - By Title

ULA Master Edition

Current Law Index - Use "Uniform State Laws"

subject heading or "Table of Statutes".

Index to Legal Periodicals - use "Uniform Laws"

subject heading or "Table of Statutes Commented

Upon".

OTHER SOURCES OF INTEREST
A Century of Service: A Centennial History of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, by Walter P. Armstrong, Jr., is housed in the collection at KF 165 .A867 1991. Two other histories include: Coulson, "The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the Control of Law-Making--a Historical Essay," 16 Oklahoma City Law Review 295-344 (Sum 1991) and Dunham, "A History of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws," 30 Law & Contemporary Problems 233 (1965).

The Kansas experience with the National Conference and its Uniform Laws is described by long-time Commissioner Paul L. Wilbert in two articles: "To Have or Have Not: The Kansas Experience with the Uniform State Laws," 6 U. Kan. L. Rev. 388 (1958) and "Uniform State Laws: An Instrument for Preserving State Integrity and Sovereignty," 49 J. Kan. B.A. 341 (1980).

JEC 9-99