Legislative Drafting Guides
A little bit of inspiration while you draft
If you’re looking for a little inspiration for drafting your legislation, we’ve compiled a handy list of style guides from various jurisdictions around the country. We’ll keep this updated as things change. Thank you for notifying us of any mistakes or broken links here.
“Live Versions” are links to where the we last found the drafting guide. These live versions sometimes change, so we also provide a Permanent Link that should never break. After taking a look at this collection of resources, thank you for considering a donation to support our work.
House of Representatives
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/09/14)
Senate
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Uniform Law Commission
“The Uniform Law Commission provides states with non-partisan, well conceived, and well drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” – Uniform Law Commission
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/16, 2018/05/30)
Alabama
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/10/06)
Alaska
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/09/30)
Arizona
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/06/23)
Arkansas
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2015/10/04)
California
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Colorado
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/11/11)
Connecticut
Basic Considerations in Drafting Legislation
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2016/05/31)
Regulations Drafting Manual
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/05/31)
Delaware
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
District of Columbia
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02)
Florida
House
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Senate (no longer published, last version linked below)
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Georgia
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Hawaii
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/04/22)
Idaho
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/09/09)
Illinois
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/06/28)
Indiana
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Iowa
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Kansas
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Kentucky
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/06/05)
Louisiana
House
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Maine
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2015/09/10)
Maryland
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Massachusetts
Live Version (PDF download)
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/04/11)
Michigan
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Minnesota
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
Mississippi
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Missouri
No Live Version Available (2022/02/23)
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2016/07/18)
Montana
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23, 2016/10/30)
Nebraska
Available to other state legislatures only (2022/03/02)
Nevada
Available to other state legislatures only (2022/03/02)
New Hampshire
Not Available (2022/03/02)
New Jersey
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/02/23)
New Mexico
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/11/11)
New York
Not Available (2022/03/02)
North Carolina
Not Available (2022/03/02)
North Dakota
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/11/14)
Ohio
The legislative drafting manual is not available, but the Administrative Rule Drafting Manual is provided below.
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2015/09/06)
Oklahoma
Available to other state legislatures only (2022/03/02)
Oregon
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/08/27)
Pennsylvania
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/09/08)
Rhode Island
Not Available (2022/03/02)
South Carolina
Not Available (2022/03/02)
South Dakota
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/08/16)
Tennessee
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02)
Texas
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02)
Utah
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/11/11)
Vermont
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Virginia
Not Available (2022/03/02)
Washington
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/10/07)
West Virginia
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/11/14)
Wisconsin
No Live Version Available (2022/03/02)
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2015/09/18)
Wyoming
Not Available (2022/03/02)
New York City, New York
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02)
Portland, Oregon
Portland provides a manual discussing the “preparation of ordinances, resolutions and reports for submission to the City Council.” The manual was last updated in February 2015. It is very detailed and contains information that is specific to Portland and drafting tips that are universally applicable. Live Version and the Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2017/02/08).
Hong Kong
Permanent Version Not Available
New Zealand
Permanent Link (Retrieved 2022/03/02, 2016/10/12)
