PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/State law

How to Cite a State Law in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a state law gives the name of the act if it has one, the state code's standard abbreviation (such as Fla. Stat. or Cal. Penal Code), the section symbol and section number, and the year of the code edition in parentheses, with an optional link to the law. The in-text citation is the act's name and the year: (Florida Mental Health Act, 2026).

The format

Name of Act, State Code Abbreviation § Section (Year). URL

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 22, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Found the section on law.justia.com? Paste its link into PERRLA's reference search. For the codes PERRLA reads there (the Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Oregon statutes, and California's main codes, like the Penal, Education, and Health and Safety Codes), PERRLA fills in the code abbreviation, the section, the year, and the link. Check the section and year against the page, and if the section belongs to a named act, add the act's name.

Adding one by hand? Choose Statutes (under Legal References), then A state statute. Fill in the act's name, the code in Statute Source Title, the section in Statute Source Location (the Insert section symbol button adds the §), the state, the year, and the link. Type the code's full name, like Florida Statutes or Minnesota Statutes, and PERRLA changes it to the standard abbreviation when it knows the name. If the preview still shows the full name, or the code is named by subject, like California's Penal Code or Texas's Education Code, type the abbreviation yourself.

Look up
Paste a law.justia.com link, get the reference

https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-4/title-1/chapter-2/article-2-5/section-11166/

Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, Cal. Penal Code § 11166 (2025). https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-4/title-1/chapter-2/article-2-5/section-11166/

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Name of the act

If the law has a name, start with it, in title case and with no italics. Many state laws name themselves in a short title section near the start: Florida's Section 394.451 says that part of the code is the Florida Mental Health Act or the Baker Act.

Florida Mental Health Act,

When a law gives itself two names, pick one and start both the reference and the citation with it. APA's own Florida example uses Florida Mental Health Act. No name at all? Many code sections have none. Start the reference with the code abbreviation instead.

2. State code abbreviation

Next comes the state's code, in its standard legal abbreviation. Each state has its own: Florida Statutes is Fla. Stat., Minnesota Statutes is Minn. Stat., and California's subject codes take the subject, as in Cal. Penal Code.

Fla. Stat.

Illinois puts a chapter number in front of the code abbreviation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Don't use the state's own shorthand, like ILCS or F.S., in an APA reference.

3. Section

Give the section symbol (§), a space, and the section number exactly as the state writes it, with its periods or hyphens.

§ 394.463

Illinois is the exception: its sections follow the code with a slash and no section symbol, as in 5/4 (Act 5, Section 4).

4. Year

Put the year of the code edition you read in parentheses, followed by a period. State legislature sites usually print it at the top of the page, as in "The 2026 Florida Statutes." Justia labels its copies the same way ("2025 California Code").

(2026).

Need to show both the year a law was first passed and the year it was revised? APA's own Florida example does: (1971 & rev. 2009). PERRLA has a revised year field: the reference shows both years joined by & rev., and the citation joins them with a slash.

5. URL

A link is optional for laws in APA 7. If you add one, the state legislature's own site is the best source, because it carries the current official text. Don't add a period after the link.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/260E.06

Examples

A state law found on Justia: California's mandated reporter law

Section 11166 of the California Penal Code tells nurses, teachers, and other mandated reporters when and how to report suspected child abuse. It sits in Article 2.5, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, and this copy comes from Justia's 2025 California Code. California's codes are named by subject, so the code abbreviation includes the subject.

  • Parenthetical citation(Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, 2025)
  • Narrative citationChild Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (2025)

A named act from a state's official site: Florida's Baker Act

Section 394.463 sets the criteria for an involuntary mental health examination in Florida, and psychiatric nursing students there study it closely. This copy is from the Florida Legislature's site, which labels it the 2026 Florida Statutes. The student typed Florida Statutes in the Statute Source Title box, and PERRLA changed it to Fla. Stat.

  • Parenthetical citation(Florida Mental Health Act, 2026)
  • Narrative citationFlorida Mental Health Act (2026)

A code that puts the chapter first: Illinois

Section 4 of Illinois's Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act lists who must report, and registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and school personnel are all on it. Illinois cites its compiled statutes with the chapter number before the code and a slash between the act and section, so the chapter goes in front of the code abbreviation. This copy is from Justia's 2025 Illinois Compiled Statutes.

  • Parenthetical citation(Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, 2025)
  • Narrative citationAbused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (2025)

A code section with no act name: Minnesota

Minnesota's maltreatment reporting law, Section 260E.06 of the 2025 Minnesota Statutes, has no short title. With no name to start with, the reference begins with the code, and the in-text citation names the code section. The student typed Minnesota Statutes, and PERRLA changed it to Minn. Stat.

  • Parenthetical citation(Minn. Stat. § 260E.06, 2025)
  • Narrative citationMinn. Stat. § 260E.06 (2025)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a state law gives the act's name and the year. The name isn't italicized, and there's no page number.

  • Parenthetical: (Florida Mental Health Act, 2026)
  • Narrative: the name in your sentence, the year in parentheses: Under the Florida Mental Health Act (2026), a person may be taken for an involuntary examination only if specific criteria are met.
  • No act name: use the code section in place of the name: (Minn. Stat. § 260E.06, 2025)
  • Other names: you can mention another name, like the Baker Act, in your sentence, but the citation starts with the same words as the reference entry, so your reader can find it.

Comparing several states? Each law gets its own reference entry and its own citation.

Common mistakes

  • Florida Mental Health Act, Florida Statutes § 394.463 (2026).Florida Mental Health Act, Fla. Stat. § 394.463 (2026).State codes take their standard legal abbreviation in an APA reference, because APA 7 follows the legal citation format for laws.
  • Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, Cal. Penal Code § 11166 (2025).Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, Cal. Penal Code § 11166 (2025).Act names aren't italicized in APA 7, in the reference or in your sentences.
  • (Baker Act, 2026)(Florida Mental Health Act, 2026)The citation has to start with the same words as the reference entry. Florida's law gives itself both names, so either can work, but only when the reference starts with the same one.
  • 325 ILCS 5/4 (2025).325 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/4 (2025).ILCS is Illinois's own shorthand. The legal citation format APA 7 follows spells the code as Ill. Comp. Stat.
  • Minn. Stat. 260E.06 (2025).Minn. Stat. § 260E.06 (2025).Most state codes need the section symbol (§) before the section number. Illinois, with its slash form, is an exception.

Quick checklist

  • The act's official name, if it has one, not italicized
  • The state code's standard abbreviation, not the full name
  • § and the section number, written the way the state writes it
  • The year of the code edition you read, in parentheses
  • An optional link, ideally to the state legislature's site
  • In text: the act's name and year, matching the first words of the reference

Questions students ask

How do I find my state's code abbreviation?

Type the code's full name into PERRLA, and it changes it to the standard abbreviation when it knows the name. The abbreviations come from the tables in The Bluebook and the Indigo Book, the guides to legal citation that APA 7 follows for laws. Your law library's citation guide lists them too.

What year do I use for a state law?

Use the year of the code edition you read. State legislature sites usually print it at the top, like "The 2025 Minnesota Statutes," and Justia labels each copy with its edition year. If you need to show when the law was first passed and when it was revised, give both years.

What if the state law doesn't have a name?

Start the reference with the code abbreviation and section, like Minn. Stat. § 260E.06 (2025). In the text, the code section takes the name's place: (Minn. Stat. § 260E.06, 2025).

Can I cite a state law from Justia instead of the state's website?

Yes. The citation is the same wherever you read the law, because it points to the code, not the website. The state legislature's site is the better link, because Justia's copy can lag a year behind. If you use Justia, take the year from its edition label.

Should I cite the state board of nursing's website or the law itself?

Cite what you used. If you read the statute, cite the statute as shown here. If you read the board's page that explains or reprints it, cite that page as a webpage by an organization.

How is citing a state law different from a federal law?

The parts are the same: the name, the code, the section, and the year. A federal law cites the U.S. Code (42 U.S.C.) or a public law number, and a state law cites that state's own code in its own abbreviation.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 11.1–11.3 and 11.5, which follow the legal citation format of The Bluebook; state code abbreviations from The Bluebook Table T1 and the Indigo Book Table T3. Example sources verified on the Florida Legislature's Online Sunshine site, the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, and Justia's California and Illinois codes.

PERRLA builds the state law reference from a Justia link or the code you type, with the state's code abbreviation filled in for you.

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