Currency and Updating

Updating a Section of the United States Code

Most Code sections are current just as they appear because they have not been affected by any laws since the sections were last updated. The currency date for each section is displayed above the section text. If the section has been affected by any laws enacted after that date, those laws will appear in a list of "Pending Updates". If there are no pending updates listed, the section is current as shown.

When present, the list of pending updates provides the public law numbers of each law affecting the section in some way—either the section text, a statutory note, or a preceding table of contents. Following the list of pending updates is a “View Details” link that provides more specific information about how each law has affected the section

The Classification Tables can also be used to find the latest laws affecting the Code. The Tables indicate which sections of the Code have been affected by recently enacted laws.

The text of public laws listed as Pending Updates or appearing in the Classification Tables can be found in a number of sources, such as the Government Printing Office’s FDSys (Federal Digital System) or the Library of Congress’s THOMAS database.

For an explanation of the differences between the version of the United States Code as posted for searching and browsing by default on this website and the versions of the Code based on the database used for the official print version, see the About the United States Code and This Website page.