Introduction to Pamphlet Laws

These volumes contain public and private laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from December 5, 1801, to the present. During a session, enacted statutes of a general nature are printed individually in a format officially referred to as Slip Laws. At the end of the session, the Slip Laws are combined into a bound volume or volumes which are officially referred to as the Laws of Pennsylvania but are unofficially referred to as Pamphlet Laws. The Pamphlet Laws also contain appropriation laws, joint resolutions amending the constitution, vetoes, proclamations, tables of statutes affected, indexes and certain other documents.

Publication

One volume of the Pamphlet Laws is generally published for each annual session. In recent years, a second volume is normally published in even years because of greater legislative activity.

Reading the Statutes at Large

In many instances in prior years, a page of the Pamphlet Laws holds more than one act. Please view the entire page to find the act that you are seeking.

Name and numbering conventions

Historical and scholarly references to Pamphlet Law volumes make use of both Roman numerals and Arabic numbers. This site uses Arabic numbers rather than Roman numerals. Chapters of the Pamphlet Laws are referred to as "acts" and identified with Arabic numbers.

Method of citation

A citation to the Pamphlet Laws is made as follows for sessions in 1826 and earlier: act of April 10, 1826 (P.L.235, Ch.130). A citation to the Pamphlet Laws is made as follows for sessions in 1827 and later: act of January 16, 1827 (P.L.9, No.10).