Library Services

ONLINE CATALOG and COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEGAL RESEARCH

The Access to Justice Resource Center has an online catalog(link is external) to assist you in locating research materials, as well as 10 computer terminals dedicated to Internet legal research. The Center currently subscribes to Westlaw and selected Lexis legal research databases. Our electronic resources can only be accessed from the Center's computer terminals.

Databases

We provide onsite access to a variety of electronic information sources that are critical to researching law, including

  • Maryland Register
  • WestLaw Next Databases of all Maryland and federal codes, opinions and regulations
  • Lexis
    • Maryland laws and court opinions
    • Colliers on Bankruptcy
    • Matthew Bender
    • Select Micpels
  • Hein Online
    • Law Journals and Law Reviews
    • American Bar Association Journals

Baltimore County Code

The Office of Law provides legal advice to the County in all civil matters and represents the County Executive, County Council, County Administrative Officer, and all offices, departments, boards, commissions and other administrative agencies of the County. View the County Code.

Legislative History

Understanding the intent of a law often influences legal arguments. Legislative history material helps people understand why laws were passed. The Center offers several resources.

There are two main ways researchers can try to understand what the General Assembly was thinking when it passed a law: the bill's preamble or bill files.

A bill's preamble often contains the General Assembly's reason for the bill. This can be found as part of the actual House or Senate bills as well as in the chapter laws on the General Assembly's website(link is external) and the Archives Online Session Laws website(link is external).

Bill files consist of supplementary documents the General Assembly utilizes during session when debating bills. These documents may consist of fiscal notes, newspaper clippings, and any other document submitted during the legislative process. Bill files are only available at select repositories throughout the state, including the Center.

RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING LEGISLATIVE INTENT

  • Bill Files on Microfilm, beginning 1976
  • Appellate Briefs on Microfiche, beginning 1970
  • Laws of Maryland, beginning 1799

ABOUT THE RESOURCES

  • The bill files are the most complete collection available outside of Annapolis. However, the most recent bill files scanned are several years old.
  • The appellate briefs include both the Court of Special Appeals as well as the Court of Appeals briefs.
  • The Laws of Maryland are an often-overlooked resource of legislative intent. The purpose of the bill is often found in the pre-amble or section one of the acts.

Call to verify the Center holds the years you want to search. There is a charge for copying material.

PRE-1976 BILL FILES

From approximately 1940 to 1975 select legislative history information was compiled in the "Legislative Council Report to the General Assembly" books. These were called “Blue Books,” and they are part of the Digital Collections(link is external) of the Maryland State Law Library(link is external). The State Law Library hosts a comprehensive guide to researching legislative history titled "Ghosthunting: Searching for Maryland Legislative History(link is external)."

Further legislative history information may be available through the Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library(link is external).