Purdon's Master Disposition Table

Since 1970, the Pennsylvania legislature has been working to consolidate Pennsylvania Unconsolidated Statutes into Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (Pa.C.S.), which are organized by subject. Prior to 1970, all Pennsylvania statutes were unconsolidated. Research was done using pamphlet laws and the Unofficial Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes.

In 1970, the Pennsylvania legislature passed the Consolidated Pennsylvania Statutes Act (Nov. 25, 1970, P.L. 707, Act 230) “in order to facilitate the codification and compilation of the law of this Commonwealth.” This is an on-going project and not all Pennsylvania laws have yet been consolidated.

When delving into historical statute research, you may need to track where subjects covered in Pennsylvania Unconsolidated Statutes (P.S.) were placed when consolidated into the official consolidated statutes (Pa.C.S.). To help with this research challenge, the print version of Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes provides a Master Disposition Table.

The Master Disposition Table “shows the disposition of unconsolidated statute subject matter into consolidated statutes, as originally enacted.” To find your statute’s Consolidated Section, locate the unconsolidated statute under the Repealed Section heading.

The Purdon's Master Disposition Table can be found following the Tables volumes in the print set only.

Have a question about researching Pennsylvania statutes? Check out our Pennsylvania Statutes research guide or ask us!