Cornell Legal Information Institute is an excellent source for both primary and secondary legal materials. There are many different ways to access the materials, but the easiest way for the novice researcher to find a topic is to click on "Law about . . ." to get a list of areas of law, including land use. A helpful feature of the Cornell site is the one-page overview outlining the sources of land use law and how they interrelate. Framed next to the overview is a "Menu of Sources" that includes relevant sections of Title 30 and 43 of the United States Code, Titles 30, 34 and 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and links to recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. Some state statutes and code provisions also are linked, as well as links to other land use-related organizations.
Hieros Gamos includes a special section on land use law and includes links to international and foreign resources. Categories of materials include: case law, regulations, agencies and programs, state law (alphabetical by state), current news, and a discussion group.
Findlaw is a "one stop shopping" site for law. Provides links to primary and secondary sources of law in addition to links to other websites. Although it does not employ land use as a specific topic, relevant materials may be found under property law (http://guide.lp.findlaw.com/01topics/33property/index.html). The site includes overviews of specific subjects, articles submitted by law firms, consultants, government agencies, and several legal publishers. Particularly helpful are its links to other related websites.
Federal Legislative -
- Land use statutes -
- Pending Federal Legislation -
- Suggested subjects -
- "public lands"
- "oil lease"
Federal Judicial -
United States Supreme Court Opinions -
United States Courts of Appeal -
United States District Courts -
- Federal Judiciary links
- PACER - electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court docket records. Fee for use.
Federal Administrative -
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Land use regulations -
Texas Legislative -
Texas Judicial -
Texas Administrative Materials -
ABA Section of Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law -
The Section has a CLE calendar of events, discussion groups, the full text of Probate and Property Magazine and Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal and committee newsletters and reports.
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation -
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is an independent federal agency that provides a forum for influencing federal activities, programs, and policies as they affect historic resources. The goal of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which established the Council in 1966, is to help federal agencies act as responsible stewards of our nation's resources when their actions affect historic properties. The Council is the only entity with the legal responsibility to balance historic preservation concerns with federal project requirements.
American Land Rights Association -
The American Land Rights Association (ALRA) is a grassroots, non-profit organization advocating private property rights and multiple use of federal lands including recreational and commercial access. ALRA is engaged in issues such as compensation for government takings of property, defending cabin permittees and inholders of private property within federal lands such as national parks and national forests, opposition to land acquisition trust funds such as the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), and support for rural communities.
American Planning Association -
The American Planning Association is a non-profit public interest and research organization representing 30,000 practicing planners, officials, and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues. Sixty-five percent of APA's members are employed by state and local government agencies. These members are involved, on a day-to-day basis, in formulating planning policies and preparing land use regulations. APA's objective is to encourage planning that will contribute to public well-being by developing communities and environments that will more effectively meet the needs of people and society. This is a good source of news about legal and business issues.
City of Austin Development Process -
The City of Austin has created a process which development projects must follow in order to assure that the projects are designed and constructed to meet community standards. The City Council has adopted these community standards in the form of the Land Development Code (LDC), which promotes the safety, welfare and orderly development of Austin. The site also includes a database of decisions by local boards and commissions.
Cyburbia.org -
Cyburbia, established in 1994 by the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, contains a large selective directory of Internet-based resources relevant to planning, architecture, urbanism, growth and sprawl, and other topics related to the built environment. Cyburbia contains information about architecture and planning-related mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. It also hosts a bulletin board with job listings and discussions on many land use-related topics. The site includes links to local governments worldwide.
Eminent Domain Online -
The aim of this organization is to provide an Internet-based clearinghouse of business and government information packaged for professionals in the fields of eminent domain, right of way, and infrastructure development.
Environmental Justice Resource Center -
The Environmental Justice Resource Center (EJRC) at Clark Atlanta University was formed in 1994 to serve as a research, policy, and information clearinghouse on issues related to environmental justice, race and the environment, civil rights, land use planning, transportation equity, brownfields, suburban sprawl, and Smart Growth.
Land Trust Alliance -
The Land Trust Alliance is the national leader of the private land conservation movement, promoting voluntary land conservation across the country and providing resources, leadership and training to the nation's 1,200-plus nonprofit, grassroots land trusts. The organization strives to protect important open spaces.
Land Use Law Research, Georgetown University Law Library
The Planning Commissioners Journal -
The PCJ is a national publication designed for citizen planners, including members of local planning commissions and zoning boards.
Private Real Property Rights Preservation Act Guidelines -
The Private Real Property Rights Preservation Act represents a basic charter for the protection of private real property rights in Texas. These guidelines provide a tool to assist governmental entities covered by the Act in appropriately complying with the Act.
State Bar of Texas, Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section -
This section provides online access to the REPTL Reporter, a collection of real estate, probate and trust CLE course materials, and reports generated by section committees.
Texas General Land Office and Veterans Land Board -
The Texas General Land Office is the management agency for state lands and mineral rights totaling 20.4 million acres. Included in that portfolio are the beaches, bays, estuaries and other "submerged" lands out to 10.3 miles in the Gulf of Mexico, institutional acreage, grazing lands in West Texas and timberlands in East Texas. In managing that property, the land office now leases drilling rights for oil and gas production on state lands. The GLO's Archives and Records division houses original Spanish, Mexican, and Republic of Texas land grants and associated documentation. The Recycling, Adopt-A-Beach, Coastal, and Oil Spill Prevention and Response programs work to protect our natural resources. The land office triggers economic development through its natural gas marketing initiatives. The office also maintains loan programs offered to veterans through the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB). Information about all these programs and more can be found by exploring this web site.
Texas Historical Commission -
THC is the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks for the use, education, enjoyment and economic benefit of present and future generations. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
Texas Commission on Enivronmental Quality -
TCEQ is the lead environmental agency for the state
Texas Water Development Board -
The TWDB is the state agency charged with statewide water planning and administration of low-cost financial programs for the planning, design and construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control and agricultural water conservation projects. The goal of the Board is to plan the use of the state’s water resources and to provide affordable water and wastewater services. The TWDB provides water planning resources and information, financial assistance and technical assistance services to the citizens of Texas interested in water resources.
Urban Land Institute -
The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment.
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency -
The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment - air, water and land - upon which life depends, to the fullest extent possible under the laws enacted by Congress. This website maintains a database of environmental laws, EPA rules and decisions, as well as other resources related to the environment.
ABA Real Property Probate and Trust Section -
This ABA section maintains several mailing lists for professionals interested in sharing information with other experts in land use and related fields.
DIRT -
This discussion group is an out growth of the popular Quarterly Report on Current Real Estate Developments. DIRT is free to participants and unrestricted. Each weekday, DIRT has a new Daily Development an excerpt from a recent or "in process" Quarterly Report. DIRT comes in two versions - DIRT and Broker DIRT (for real estate brokers)
To subscribe to DIRT, just send the message "subscribe dirt (your name)" (without the quotes) to listserv@listserv.umkc.edu.
To subscribe to Broker DIRT, just send the message "subscribe brokerdirt (your name)" (without the quotes) to listserv@listserv.umkc.ed.
DIRT Daily Developments -
The DIRT DD list is exclusively for members of the ABA's Real Property, Probate and Trust Section. This listserv will provide subscribers with the "Daily Developments" reports from DIRT - the Internet legal discussion group for real estate professionals. Each day, Professor Patrick A. Randolph of the university of Missouri-Kansas City sends subscribers of the DIRT list a commentary or update information concerning real estate law, a recent case or other real estate issues. The regular DIRT list then exchanges commentary on these postings or other matters.
E-DIRT -
E-DIRT is the section's electronic, quarterly, newsletter which publishes a current article related to real estate law. It is available to all members of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.
rppt-title-ins - The Title Insurance Committee list server will facilitate the exchange of topical cases, practical tips, concerns and other legal information between members of the committee.
3DT - Deals, Dirt, Death and Taxes is a discussion group of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section and covers estate planning for Businesses and Real Estate.
Lexis-Nexis (fee-based) - The Real Estate library contains a comprehensive collection of primary and secondary materials that includes case law, statutory and agency materials as well as information on the secondary mortgage market, property tax and sales records, and environmental reports.
Westlaw (fee-based) - The Real Property practice area materials include federal and state cases, administrative law and relevant law journals and periodicals. It also has a special water law component.
The researcher who wants to automatically keep up with a particular topic or area of law may use both Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw as an updating service. Each company allows users to save searches and have the service automatically notify the user of all new documents related to the issue.
Loislaw (fee-based) - At the present time, Loislaw consists of appellate level court opinions, regulations and statutes from the federal government and all 50 states. Loislaw has GlobalCite, which is similar to a citator, but without treatment codes. LOIS also offers a "clipping" service and LOIS NewsFeeds. Register online.
Versuslaw (fee-based) - Versuslaw has only court opinions and a few other publications at present, but it is an extremely low cost alternative.
LexisOne (free) - Lexis provides free access to state and federal cases decided since January 1998, and all U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790. This free service also includes a large database of forms.
Findlaw (free) - This free website includes links to the websites of Congress, all state legislatures, many state and federal courts, and many state and federal agencies. Through the links in this website it is possible to locate current statutes, regulations and court opinions. Findlaw has created several tools to help researchers locate court opinions by subject, as well as case name.
Many legal publishers are moving their publications onto the Web. Some of the benefits are multiple access from any location and elimination of updating (no more filing or installing new software). They are often less expensive to purchase online.
Matthew Bender Authority (requires a subscription) - This extensive collection of Matthew Bender titles includes both Dorsaneo, Texas Litigation Guide and Kendrick, Texas Transaction Guide -- Legal Forms (pricing subject to change)
Law school libraries usually provide a web site that links to electronic legal materials of special interest to students, faculty and practitioners of that particular state. During legal research, it is worthwhile to spend some time examining the web sites of local law school libraries. For example, here is a short description to give you some idea of the resources made available by the University of Texas, Tarlton Law Library:
Tarlton Law Library and TALLONS are two sites maintained by Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law. The Tarlton site includes a good deal of information on the Law Library and its collections and services, with shortcuts made to many frequently used Federal and Texas resources. One can use the Tarlton Law Library web site as a 'launch pad' to web resources. Click on 'Research' to find a large number of links to full-text, free legal and general materials available on the Internet.
The TALLONS web page is the Law Library's online catalog, which includes more than 1,300 links from the bibliographic record to the full text of materials available on the Internet.
If you are in the Law Library using a public computer terminal, you can take advantage of the Law Library's subscriptions to Congressional Universe (federal legislative materials) and a number of law review indexes which are linked from the TALLONS home page, including:
These are fee-based services, so the Law Library's subscriptions are not available through your home or office computer.
A unique service provided by the Law Library and available free from the TALLONS home page is access to the Contents Pages from Law Reviews and Other Scholarly Journals. This database, updated every weekday, consists of tables of contents from more than 750 law reviews, which are scanned into the database as soon as they are received by the Law Library. After using conventional periodical indexes like LegalTrac, research can be updated by using this archive, which bridges the gap between the time when a law review is published and when it is indexed (which can take as long as a couple of months). The archive is searchable by keyword. NOTE: The Law Library offers a free subscription email service to this database for email addresses ending in ".org" or ".gov"; or $75 per year to email addresses ending in ".com." For more information, or to subscribe, send an email message to Brian Quigley: bquigley@mail.law.utexas.edu.
Last updated: September 15, 2005