Georgetown Law
Georgetown Law Library

California Resources

This State Guide provides an in-depth look at sources of law within the state of California.

Constitution: Current & Historical

California has had two Constitutions. The first Constitution of California was ratified on November 13, 1849, prior to California's admittance into the Union in 1850. California's current constitution was ratified on May 7, 1879 and has been amended over 480 times.

Current Constitution

The Constitution is grouped into subject matter areas known as Articles. Each Article is organized by a heading and section numbers. The Constitution of California may be found in the following sources:

The annotated formats provide supplemental notes, historical materials, case law and encyclopedia references to assist in explaining the text of Constitution.

Historic Constitutions

Print Historic Constitutions

Constitution: Conventions

First Convention:

Second Convention:

More on Constitutions in General

For current state constitution developments: State Court Reports.

For provision-by-provision commentary on the state's constitution with analysis of the state's current constitution and its evolution: Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States. Editions held by the Law Library will be found in the catalog, including those published under a former series title.