Law Library Overview

Closed Friday, November 22

The Law Library will be closed on Friday, November 22, 2024 for staff development. We apologize for the inconvenience.

ONLINE CATALOG

The Law Library has an online catalog to assist you in locating research materials.

ClosingS

The Law Library is closed on court holidays.

COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEGAL RESEARCH

The Law Library has four computer terminals dedicated to Internet legal research. The Library currently subscribes to Westlaw and selected Lexis legal research databases. Our electronic resources may be accessed only from the Library terminals.

You must sign up at the Reference Desk. Further details on accessible databases is available at the Law Library's Reference Desk.

COLLECTIONS

The Baltimore County Law Library provides on-site access to a variety of electronic information sources that are critical to researching law. These resources include:

The Law Library’s print collection places strong emphasis on Maryland law. However, treatises, subject-specific books analyzing or explaining law, are also available. The following links display the print items held by the Law Library.

The following collections contain historical and continuing educational material.

  • Maryland Historical Collection – Older books about Maryland and Baltimore County law.
  • National Business Institute (NBI) Seminar Publications – Like Micpels below, NBI books are a great resource for practical tips and sample filings.

  • Micpels and MSBA – These items consist of material produced by attorneys for other attorneys as part of continuing education programs. Micpel was originally a cooperative effort between the University of Baltimore School of Law, the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) and the University of Maryland Law School. As of 2010, the Micpel entity no longer exists and the Maryland State Bar Association fully assumed the activities of the older organization. Though the Micpel name does not appear anywhere on the new material, the Law Library continues to refer to the new publications as Micpels and shelves them with the Micpel books.

    • Current – Held at the reference desk. Please ask staff for assistance with these.
    • Superseded – Shelved in aisles L through N.

The Baltimore County Office of Law provides legal advice to the County in all civil matters and represents the County Executive, County Council, County Administrative Officer, and all offices, departments, boards, commissions and other administrative agencies of the County. View County Code.

Understanding the intent of a law often influences legal arguments. Legislative history material helps people understand why laws were passed. The Law Library offers several resources.

There are two main ways researchers can try to understand what the General Assembly was thinking when it passed a law: the bill's preamble or bill files.

A bill's preamble often contains the General Assembly's reason for the bill. This can be found as part of the actual House or Senate bills as well as in the chapter laws on the General Assembly's website and the Archives Online Session Laws website.

Bill files consist of supplementary documents the General Assembly utilizes during session when debating bills. These documents may consist of fiscal notes, newspaper clippings, and any other document submitted during the legislative process. Bill files are only available at select repositories throughout the state, including the Baltimore County Law Library.

RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING LEGISLATIVE INTENT

  • Bill Files on Microfilm, beginning 1976
  • Appellate Briefs on Microfiche, beginning 1970
  • Laws of Maryland, beginning 1799

ABOUT THE RESOURCES

  • The bill files are the most complete collection available outside of Annapolis. However, the most recent bill files scanned are several years old.
  • The appellate briefs include both the Court of Special Appeals as well as the Court of Appeals briefs.
  • The Laws of Maryland are an often-overlooked resource of legislative intent. The purpose of the bill is often found in the pre-amble or section 1 of the acts.

Please call to verify the library holds the year(s) you want to search. There is a charge for copying material.

PRE-1976 BILL FILES

From approximately 1940 to 1975 select legislative history information was compiled in the Legislative Council Report to the General Assembly books. These were called “Blue Books,” and they are part of the Digital Collections of the Maryland State Law Library. The State Law Library hosts a comprehensive guide to researching legislative history titled Ghosthunting: Searching for Maryland Legislative History.

Further legislative history information may be available through the Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library.

ELMO RENTAL

An ELMO visual presenter for use in court proceedings is available for rent. Reservations are required. The party renting the equipment is responsible for replacing all lost or damaged equipment.

PHOTOCOPIERS

The library has one self-service copier.

SCANNERS

All public workstations include scanners. Please bring a USB drive to save your scans.

FAX MACHINE

The library no longer has a fax machine or offers e-faxing services.

NON-MILITARY AFFIDAVIT

When submitting default requests or petitions to the Court, Federal law requires submitting a Certificate of Active Duty Status along with the request. The Federal website requires the birthdate or Social Security number of the non-responsive party to generate the certificate. Also include the first name in the search form. It is not required for the search, but it is required by this Court for the certificate or affidavit to be accepted.

Download a Request for Order of Default form from the Maryland Courts website.

LIBRARY RULES

  • All patrons are required to be respectful of other library users.
  • The Library is for Legal Research purposes only.
  • Material does not leave the library.
  • Food and drinks should be in sealed containers.
  • Patrons must refrain from loud or excessive talking or otherwise disturbing other people.
  • Books may not be taken from the library.
  • Cellular phone use is permitted as long as that use does not disturb other people.
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Copy machines and computers are turned off 10 minutes before closing.
  • Library staff reserve the right to eject people abusing library resources or disrupting or threatening other people.
  • Student Use Policy