Sources for Federal Agency Decisions

Locating agency decisions is challenging because they are not published in one "reporter" and they are irregularly published. There are various options for locating these decisions. For citation purposes, you should try to locate the official publication, but be aware that these are often months behind in publication. Looseleaf services are often the quickest way of locating unofficial versions of agency decisions. Online fee based databases provide extensive coverage of agency decisions, but the agencies and dates covered vary greatly. Remember to check the information icon within the databases to verify coverage. The Internet has brought a wealth of decisions in PDF format. Again, coverage differs among the agencies. Finally, the best resources for locating agency decisions, especially very recent ones, are looseleaf services.

Like other legal authority, agency decisions must be updated.

Official Publications

Table 1 of The Bluebook lists all United States official administrative publications. With the full title of the reporter, check the B.U. Libraries catalog for the print version. Also, check LLMC Digital under the information icon for U.S. Federal-Executive for a complete listing of agency decisions available as electronic images.

Looseleaf Services

Looseleafs are an excellent source for agency decisions. In addition to decisions appearing in current developments sections, looseleafs also have extensive backfiles of decisions in "transfer binders". For more information about identifying and locating looseleaf services, see Secondary Sources for Federal Administrative Law Research.

Online Fee Based Databases

Both LexisNexis and Westlaw have many databases for administrative decisions. Follow the hierarchies below:

LexisNexis: Legal > Federal Legal - U.S. > Administrative Agency Materials > Individual Agencies

Westlaw: Directory > U.S. Federal Materials > Federal Administrative Decisions

HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Agency Library and LLMC Digital (view holdings) also offer a broad range of agency decisions and other materials for cabinet level departmnts and independent boards and agencies.

Internet

Many agencies are now providing administrative decisions on their web sites, many in PDF format. In addition to decisions, these web sites may also be used to locate agency practice information such as manuals and forms.

A listing of agency web sites, with information about what documents are provided, is available from WashLaw.

The LSU Libraries Federal Agencies Directory provides an A-Z listing of federal agencies by type, as well as a searchable database.

The University of Virginia provides links to repositories of federal agency decisions by agency and by subject.

Updating Federal Agency Decisions

Like locating the decisions, the process to update them may be similarly arduous. If you are dealing with a major agency, the decisions may be covered by one of two sources:

Shepard's U.S. Administrative Citations: in print or via LexisNexis covers major agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and others. For a complete list of agencies covered, see the print edition (Law Indexes).
Specialized Shepard's, such as Shepard's Federal Tax Citator, in print or via LexisNexis.
Keycite via Westlaw covers selected agencies. See Keycite scope for a full list.

Like regulations, agency decisions are reviewable by the federal courts. Therefore, if your agency is not covered by one of the two sources listed above, you should use Case Law Research techniques to locate any federal court decisions that may impact the agency decision you have located.