Not Every Title of the U.S. Code Is the Law Itself — Positive Law Titles Are, and the Rest Are Evidence That Can Be Rebutted
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel says a positive law title "is itself a Federal statute" while a non-positive law title is "an editorial compilation". As of 2026-09-25.
Two kinds of title, and only one of them is a statute
The body that prepares the U.S. Code draws the line in one sentence. "A positive law title of the Code is itself a Federal statute. A non-positive law title of the Code is an editorial compilation of Federal statutes." One was voted on as a title. The other is an arrangement of laws that were voted on separately.[1]
The same page names one of each. "For example, Title 10, Armed Forces, is a positive law title because the title itself has been enacted by Congress" — and "By contrast, Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, is a non-positive law title."[1]
The difference is about what a court must accept
It is not a filing convention. The page calls it legally significant. "Non-positive law titles are prima facie evidence of the law, but positive law titles constitute legal evidence of the law in all Federal and State courts", citing 1 U.S.C. 204.[1][2]
The statute itself says the same thing from the other direction: "whenever titles of such Code shall have been enacted into positive law the text thereof shall be legal evidence of the laws therein contained".[2]
And the Code's own "About" page states the default and the exception together — "the matter set forth in a main edition of the Code (together with its current supplement) establishes the law prima facie, except that the text of titles enacted into positive law is legal evidence of the law".[3]
What "prima facie" costs you in practice
A non-positive law title can be contradicted. "Statutory text appearing in a non-positive law title may be rebutted by showing that the wording in the underlying statute is different."[1]
And there is a stated winner when they disagree. "The text of the law appearing in the Statutes at Large prevails over the text of the law appearing in a non-positive law title." So quoting the Code is not always quoting the controlling text.[1]
The asterisk on the browse list, and what it excludes
The Code's browse page carries a footnote that does two jobs at once: "This title has been enacted as positive law. However, any Appendix to this title has not been enacted as part of the title."[4]
An appendix does not inherit the title's status. A title can be positive law while material printed as its appendix is not. This page did not read the marked list itself — that list is rendered by script on the browse page, and only the footnote was readable in the page source.[4]
What this page has not established
Not established: which titles are currently positive law. The list is on the browse page but is script-rendered, so this page records the convention and the two worked examples the Office gives, not a roster.[1][4]
Also not established: how a court weighs the two in a specific dispute, and what happens to a title mid-codification. This page quotes the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the text of 1 U.S.C. §204. It reports no case law and is not legal advice. As of 2026-09-25.[1]
Verified facts
Cross-checked against 2+ independent sourcesThis section contains facts cross-checked against multiple sources.
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel states that non-positive law titles of the United States Code are prima facie evidence of the law while positive law titles constitute legal evidence of the law in all Federal and State courts, citing 1 U.S.C. 204; the text of 1 U.S.C. §204 provides that whenever titles of the Code have been enacted into positive law the text thereof shall be legal evidence of the laws therein contained.[1][2] 2 sources
Reported, not confirmed
Not cross-checked — do not read as factFrom here on: claims and speculation that are not cross-checked.
"A positive law title of the Code is itself a Federal statute. A non-positive law title of the Code is an editorial compilation of Federal statutes."[1] single-source ×1 · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, Positive Law Codification
The page gives worked examples: "For example, Title 10, Armed Forces, is a positive law title because the title itself has been enacted by Congress", and "By contrast, Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, is a non-positive law title."[1] single-source ×1 · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, Positive Law Codification
"Statutory text appearing in a non-positive law title may be rebutted by showing that the wording in the underlying statute is different", and "The text of the law appearing in the Statutes at Large prevails over the text of the law appearing in a non-positive law title."[1] single-source ×1 · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, Positive Law Codification
A footnote on the browse page reads: "This title has been enacted as positive law. However, any Appendix to this title has not been enacted as part of the title."[4] single-source ×1 · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, browse page footnote
Timeline
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 09/25/2026, 03:16
- Body characters
- 2,678
- Sources
- 4 sources adopted
- Model
- claude-opus-5 (each cited page opened and searched for its quoted sentence before the sentence was used; the script aborts on any miss)
- Time
- 09/25/2026, 03:16
- Verdict
- Passed
Show revision history (2)
| 09/25/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 09/25/2026 | First version. Four pages were opened and each quoted sentence was searched for in the live page before the file was written; the generator aborts if any quote is absent. | Updated |
Frequently asked
Is the U.S. Code the law?
It depends on the title. The Office of the Law Revision Counsel states that a positive law title "is itself a Federal statute", while a non-positive law title is "an editorial compilation of Federal statutes".[1]
What is the practical difference?
Non-positive law titles are prima facie evidence of the law; positive law titles constitute legal evidence of the law in all Federal and State courts, per the Office and 1 U.S.C. 204.[1][2]
Can the text in the Code be wrong?
For a non-positive law title, the Office says the text "may be rebutted by showing that the wording in the underlying statute is different", and that the Statutes at Large text prevails.[1]
Give an example of each kind.
The Office names Title 10, Armed Forces as a positive law title, and Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare as a non-positive law title.[1]
Does an appendix count as positive law?
The browse page footnote states that any Appendix to a title has not been enacted as part of the title.[4]
Which titles are positive law?
This page does not list them. The marked list is on the Code's browse page but is rendered by script, and was not readable in the page source.[4]
Official links
- Official OLRC — Positive Law Codification
- Official OLRC — About the United States Code
Sources
- [1] Positive Law Codification primary
- [2] 1 U.S.C. §204 — Codes and Supplements as evidence of the laws
- [3] About the United States Code and This Website primary
- [4] Browse the United States Code primary