Oregon Legal Research Blog
If you’ve ever come across one of these “see Preface” notes in the ORS, you might be wondering where you can find that Preface:
Example: “192.715 to 192.760 were enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but were not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 192 or any series therin by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.“
In the print, this is easy. You just open up Volume 1 and start reading.
Online, it’s almost as easy, assuming the link’s location doesn’t move or rot: From the Bills and Laws page, look for the ORS Documents box in the upper right hand corner. One of those documents will link you to the “Oregon Revised Statutes Preface.”
In the Preface, look for #2, under the heading, “Changes in text of Acts,” where it says:
“(2) … Not added to and made a part of.” Notes may indicate that a particular ORS section was not added to and made a part of the ORS chapter or series in which the section appears. These notes mean that the placement of the section was editorial and not by legislative action. Notes also are used when the series references are either too numerous or too complex to bear further adjustment. However, the note does not mean that the section not added to a series or a chapter is any less the law. The note is intended only to remind the user that definitions, penalties and other references to the series should be examined carefully to determine whether they apply to the noted section.
For example, Oregon Revised Statutes contains chapter 137 relating to judgment, execution, parole and probation. A law relating to any of those subjects may be enacted but not legislatively added to ORS chapter 137, even though the section clearly belongs with the related materials found in that chapter. The Legislative Counsel compiles the section where it logically belongs and provides the “not added to” note.“