District of Columbia Resources

In 1978, D.C. Law 2-153 mandated the publication and compilation of the District of Columbia Rules and Regulations, to be called D.C. Municipal Regulations (DCMR). Before they are compiled in the DCMR, regulations appear in the weekly D.C. Register (DCR). The DCMR is organized by subject and is the official code of current D.C. regulations.

There are three types of rules:

• Mayor's rules - administrative rules issued by the mayor to carry out the duties of the mayor;
• Agency rules - rules adopted by agencies exercising authority delegated to the agency by the Council; and
• Emergency rules - rules adopted without public notice or pre-publication in the DCMR that are allowed in narrow instances. These rules are valid for 120 days.

All rules are published in the DCR first and then compiled into the DCMR. The DCR is similar to the Federal Register (FR) in that it publishes rules and regulations in chronological order. DCMR is similar to Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) (D.C. Mun. Regs.)

The subject compilation of current D.C. regulations and rules. This is the official version of the current regulations. 

Databases

• Code of D.C. Municipal Regulations on Westlaw: "[C]ontains official regulations issued by agencies in the District of Columbia."
• Code of D.C. Municipal Regulations on Bloomberg Law

Website

• DCMR Online (official). Searchable by Rule Number, Agency, Chapter Number, and full text. Note: The official, online version was recently revised and contains the most accurate, official, up-to-date information. Other versions of D.C. municipal regulations may contain errors.

Print Regulations

• Law Library Call Number: Reading Room, Stacks, State 1st Floor KFD1235 1981 .A23, ceased in print in 2004.

Code of D.C. Municipal Regulations (Weil's Code) (D.C. Code Mun. Regs.)

An unofficial compilation of the DC administrative code.

Database

• Code of District of Columbia Municipal Regulations on Lexis

Print Regulations

Updated every month, well-indexed. Use the D.C. Register to update the information in Weil's Code. The D.C. Register contains "List of Sections Amended of D.C. Municipal Regulations" in the first issue of each month. If the List of Sections Amended is not published for the month, check the Final Rulemaking section of the Table of Contents of each weekly edition of the DCR published since the last update of the DCMR.

• Law Library Call Number: Reference KFD1235 .A23 1999, currently updated at Law Library.

The District of Columbia Register (DCR) 

The D.C. Register gives brief information of actions of the Council of the District of Columbia (such as resolutions and notices of council hearings), and Actions of the Executive Branch and Independent Agencies (such as proposed rulemaking and emergency rulemaking). It also publishes all resolutions and enacted Acts.

Databases

• District of Columbia Register on Lexis (January 2, 1998 - present)
• District of Columbia Proposed & Adopted Regulations - All on Westlaw (selected documents from 2006 - present)
• District of Columbia Rulemaking on Bloomberg Law (December 2010 - present)
• District of Columbia Register on HeinOnline (1954 - )

Websites

• DC Register Online (official) (October 2009 - present): Searchable by Rule Number, Notice ID, Agency or Council, and full text; contains Word documents of individual sections.
• DC Register issues (October 2009 - present. Index only 2003 - 2009): Browsable, in PDF.

Print Register

Comes out every week during Council Period (mid-September to mid-July). It has an annual index. Use the D.C. Register to update the information in the DCMR. The DCR contains "List of Sections Amended of D.C. Municipal Regulations" in the first issue of each month. If the List of Sections Amended is not published for the month, check the Final Rulemaking section of the Table of Contents of each weekly edition of the DCR published since the last update of the DCMR. Sometimes the final version of a law is not included.

• Law Library Call Number: Reading Room, State 1st Floor KFD1235 .A25 (1954 to present), currently updated at Law Library

• DC Register on HeinOnline: Search for the order (1967 - present).
• District of Columbia Municipal Regulations and District of Columbia Register: Enter the order number in the “By Order Number" field in the "Search for Mayor’s Orders" section (1973-present).
• DC Office of the Secretary, Administrative Issuances (2005-2010).
• DC Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances: Call the Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances at (202) 727-5090 or email dcdocuments@dc.gov for assistance with Commissioner's Orders from 1954-1972.
• Historical Commissioner's Documents on LLMC Digital.

• DC Register on HeinOnline: Search for the memorandum.
• District of Columbia Municipal Regulations and District of Columbia Register: Enter the memorandum number in the “By Memorandum Number" field in the "Search for Mayor’s Memoranda" section.
• DC Office of the Secretary, Administrative Issuances (2005-2010).