PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Federal law

How to Cite a Federal Law in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a federal law follows the version you read. From the U.S. Code, it starts with United States Code in plain type, then Title and the title number, section and the section number, U.S. Government Publishing Office, the year of the code edition, and the URL. From the law as Congress passed it, it starts with United States, Congress, then Public Law and its number, United States Statutes at Large in italics, the volume, the year, the pages, and the website. The in-text citation is the first words of the entry, plus the section when you point to one: (United States Code, sec. 2612). Name the act itself in your sentence.

The format

United States Code. Title #, section #, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Year of Edition, URL.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Statutes (under Legal References), then A federal statute, and pick the kind that matches what you read. For the U.S. Code, pick Statute codified in the United States Code. Type the title number in the United States Code Title Number box and the section in United States Code Section Numbers. For a run of sections, put the first one there and the last one in Ending Section Number, and PERRLA prints sections and the full range. Put the year of the code edition you read (2024 on GovInfo) in Original Year, and paste the link in URL (Web address).

For the law as Congress passed it, pick Statute cited from Public Law and fill in the Public Law Number, the United States Statutes at Large Volume Numbers box, the year, and the link. MLA gives every page the law fills, so type the whole range, like 6–29, in Statute Starting Page Number. The MLA entry doesn't print the Name of the Statute or Act, so name the act in your sentence.

Already have a legal citation from your reading, like 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA recognizes it as a federal statute and fills in the title number and the sections. Set Original Year to the edition you read before you save. If the citation ends in et seq. ("and the sections that follow"), put the law's last section in Ending Section Number, so the entry shows the real range.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Title of source: the code

When you read the law in the U.S. Code on GovInfo, the code itself is the source, so its name comes first. MLA sets names of laws and codes in plain type, capitalized like titles, with no italics and no quotation marks. End with a period.

United States Code.

The GovInfo copy names no author, so the entry starts with the code. On the House's own U.S. Code site, MLA's example starts with the author instead: United States, Congress, House.

2. Title and section

Next, tell your reader where in the code the law is: Title and the title number, a comma, then section and the section number, spelled out. MLA doesn't use U.S.C. or the § symbol in this form.

Title 20, section 1232g,

For a law that fills a run of sections, write sections and give the first and last with an en dash: Title 29, sections 2601–2654,. Citing several sections, or several laws, from the code? MLA says it's usually clearest to make one entry for the whole code and give the title and section in your in-text citations.

3. Publisher and year

Name the office that publishes the code online, then the year of the edition you read. MLA cites the version you consulted, not the year Congress first passed the law. GovInfo prints the edition at the top of every page, as in "United States Code, 2024 Edition."

U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024,

4. URL

End with the URL, without https://, and a period. Link to the page you actually used, like the section or chapter page on GovInfo.

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title29/html/USCODE-2024-title29-chap28.htm.

5. The public law form (the other way)

To cite the act as Congress passed it, the government is the author, the law's number is the title, and the United States Statutes at Large is the container, in italics. Give vol. and the volume, the year it was enacted, and pp. with every page the law fills. The website where you read it comes last, in italics, with the URL.

United States, Congress. Public Law 103-3. United States Statutes at Large, vol. 107, 1993, pp. 6–29. U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg6.pdf.

The hyphen in 103-3 stays a hyphen: the first part is the Congress (the 103rd) and the second is the law's number in that Congress. This form fits a law that mostly amends other laws and has no single home in the code.

6. The act's name (in your sentence)

Neither form prints the act's name, so say it in your sentence the first time you cite it. Write it in plain type, capitalized like a title.

the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

You can introduce a short form, like FMLA or FERPA, in parentheses after the full name and use it after that.

Examples

A law in one section of the code: FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the student records law education students cite constantly, read on its section page in the 2024 edition of the U.S. Code. The whole act is one section, 1232g of Title 20, so the entry gives one section, and the in-text citation needs nothing more.

  • In-text citation(United States Code)
  • Narrative citationAs the United States Code sets out in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, schools that receive federal funds must let parents review their children's education records …

A law across a range of sections: the FMLA in the U.S. Code

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 fills Chapter 28 of Title 29, sections 2601 through 2654, in the 2024 edition. The entry covers the whole range, and the in-text citation points to the section you used: here, section 2612, which gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period.

  • In-text citation(United States Code, sec. 2612)
  • Narrative citationThe United States Code gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period (sec. 2612).

The same law as Congress passed it: Public Law 103-3

The FMLA again, read as it was enacted in 1993: Public Law 103-3, on pages 6 through 29 of volume 107 of the Statutes at Large, on GovInfo. Use this form when your paper is about the law as passed, and use one form for a law, not both.

  • In-text citation(United States, Congress)
  • Narrative citationIn the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the United States Congress …

A law with no single home in the code: the Nurse Reinvestment Act

The 2002 law behind the National Nurse Service Corps and the Nurse Faculty Loan Program. It amended the Public Health Service Act instead of getting its own chapter of the code, so the public law is the clean way to cite it. It runs from page 811 to 819, and MLA shortens the second number to 19.

  • In-text citation(United States, Congress)
  • Narrative citationWith the Nurse Reinvestment Act, the United States Congress …

Several laws from the code: one entry for the whole code

Writing about FERPA, the FMLA, and other laws in one paper? MLA's advice is that one entry for the whole U.S. Code is usually clearest, with the title and section in each in-text citation. In PERRLA, leave the title number and section boxes empty, and in the citation choose Other, with title 29, sec. as the label and 2612 as the value.

  • In-text citation(United States Code, title 29, sec. 2612)
  • Narrative citationThe United States Code gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period (title 29, sec. 2612).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation uses the first words of the Works Cited entry, so for a federal law it's the code or the government, not the act's name and not a year. Laws have no page numbers in the code, so point to the section instead, with a comma and sec. before the number.

  • The U.S. Code, one section in the entry: (United States Code)
  • The U.S. Code, a range in the entry: add the section you used: (United States Code, sec. 2612)
  • The whole code as one entry: add the title and the section: (United States Code, title 29, sec. 2612)
  • A public law: (United States, Congress)
  • Name in your sentence: give only the section at the end: The United States Code gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave (sec. 2612).

If two entries start with the same words, like two public laws that both start with United States, Congress, add the law's number so your reader knows which one you mean: (United States, Congress, Public Law 103-3). Write the act's name in plain type in your sentences, never in italics.

Common mistakes

  • Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (1993).United States Code. Title 29, sections 2601–2654, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024,The first form is legal citation style, which APA uses. MLA follows its own template: the code as the title, then the title and sections spelled out, the publisher, and the edition year.
  • (Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993)(United States Code, sec. 2612)That's APA. MLA in-text citations match the first words of the Works Cited entry, never take a year, and point to a section when there are no pages.
  • United States Code. Title 29, sections 2601–2654, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 1993,United States Code. Title 29, sections 2601–2654, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024,MLA cites the version you read. The 2024 edition of the code is the one on GovInfo, even though Congress passed the law in 1993.
  • (United States Code 2612)(United States Code, sec. 2612)A page number follows the name with no comma, but a section number takes a comma and sec. so your reader doesn't take it for a page.
  • United States Statutes at Large, vol. 107, 1993, p. 6.United States Statutes at Large, vol. 107, 1993, pp. 6–29.MLA's public law example gives every page the law fills. The first page alone is the legal citation habit.
  • The Family and Medical Leave Act requires …The Family and Medical Leave Act requires …Names of laws, acts, and codes are capitalized like titles but set in plain type, with no italics and no quotation marks.

Quick checklist

  • U.S. Code: United States Code, Title #, section #, spelled out
  • The year of the code edition you read, not the year the law passed
  • Public law: United States, Congress, then Public Law and its number
  • Statutes at Large in italics, with vol., the year, and every page
  • Names of laws and codes in plain type, never italics
  • In text: (United States Code, sec. #) or (United States, Congress), never a year

Questions students ask

Should I cite the U.S. Code or the public law?

Cite the version you actually read. The U.S. Code is the law as it stands today, organized by subject, and it's the better choice for one section or a law with its own chapter. The public law is the act as Congress passed it, in one piece, and it suits a paper about the law's history or a law that mostly changed other laws.

Which year goes in an MLA entry for a federal law?

The year of the version you read. For the U.S. Code, that's the edition year GovInfo prints at the top of the page, like 2024. For a public law, it's the year the law was enacted, the year of that Statutes at Large volume.

Where does the act's name go in MLA?

In your sentence. MLA's examples for the U.S. Code and for public laws don't print the act's name in the Works Cited entry, so the in-text citation can't use it either. Name the act in your prose, in plain type, so your reader knows which law you mean.

Do I use the § symbol or U.S.C. in MLA?

Not in the standard MLA form. MLA spells out Title, section, and sections in the entry and uses sec. in the in-text citation. The legal form, like 29 U.S.C. § 2612, belongs to a hybrid method the MLA Style Center describes for readers trained in law. Use it only if your instructor asks for it.

Where do I find a law's public law number and Statutes at Large pages?

GovInfo and Congress.gov list both. The public law number and the first page are printed at the top of the law's first page, and GovInfo's details page for the law gives the full page range. In the U.S. Code, the source note at the end of each section names the public law that created it.

How do I cite a bill that never became law?

A bill that wasn't enacted has no public law number or code section, so it gets a different entry, with its bill number and the Congress. See the guide to citing a congressional bill.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, containers, and government authors) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's post Documenting Legal Works in MLA Style (names of laws and codes in plain type; the U.S. Code and public law examples; citing the version you consulted; one entry for the whole code with the title and section in the text; the hybrid method). Example sources verified on GovInfo: the 2024 edition of the U.S. Code (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 29 U.S.C. ch. 28, §§ 2601–2654) and the Statutes at Large records for Public Law 103-3 (107 Stat. 6–29) and Public Law 107-205 (116 Stat. 811–819).

PERRLA builds the MLA entry for a federal law from the U.S. Code section or the public law number, with the sections spelled out and the right author in front.

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