California statutes Archives - Page 3 of 3

Modernizing California Statutes

March 6, 2022 8:20 amMarch 6, 2022 8:27 am

As new legislation is considered in the California Legislature, it is incumbent on the attorneys in the Office of Legislative Counsel to update and modernize state statutes. There are examples of this ongoing effort throughout California bills and is an...

Are Acronyms Used in California Statutes?

March 4, 2022 7:03 amMarch 4, 2022 7:06 am

With the formal language used in California statutes, a reader would expect that a program or department name is used, rather than an acronym. However, that is not always the case. Here are a few examples of acronyms that are...

Are Regulations Promulgated or Adopted?

February 2, 2022 10:30 amFebruary 2, 2022 8:23 am

Pardon me in advance for this wonky piece. The Office of Legislative Counsel in California makes grammatical or stylistic changes to statutes when its attorneys come across provisions in California Codes that need revisions. One of those changes is the...

Declarations of Existing Law in California Statutes

January 22, 2022 11:07 amJanuary 22, 2022 8:13 am

In California statutes, readers may come across the following or a similarly-worded phrase: “This section is declaratory of existing law.” What does that mean? Basically, it is an effort by the Legislature to provide retroactive effect to a change in...

Liberally Construing California Statutes

January 21, 2022 10:30 amJanuary 21, 2022 8:59 am

A common feature of statutes is for the legislature to state its intent regarding how courts and the judicial branch should “liberally construe” the statutory provisions adopted by the legislative branch of government. By my count, there are over 250...

Guidance for Interpreting California Codes

July 19, 2020 7:20 amJuly 19, 2020 7:24 am

California’s statutes, California Codes of which there are more than half a million, are contained in 29 separate codes. In an effort to provide guidance to those needing to interpret these statutes, each Code begins with a “General Provisions” section....