Florida Legal Research Overview: Florida Statutes

FSU Digital Projects

• PDFs of Florida statutes from 1941 through 1996
• Browse the relevant year to find the statute

If you are using printed Florida Statutes between the years 1949-1999:

Prior to 1999 the Florida Statutes were only published in odd-numbered years and a supplement was printed in even years.  The supplement contains ONLY laws that were changed in an even numbered year. If no changes were made to the law in an even-numbered year, you need to check the prior year's statue for the law.  

For example if you look for a law in 1982's supplement and it is not there, go back to the 1981 Florida Statutes to find the law.  

• Use the index 
• Use the table of contents
• Skim relevant sections 
• Boolean searching (AND, OR, NOT, /s) 
• Annotated versions of the statutes contain references to cases and secondary sources