There are two main types of administrative law: rules and regulations, and decisions. These are made by agencies or commissions which derive their authority from Congress or a state legislature. This authority is often referred to as “delegated” authority since Congress or the state legislature “delegated” its authority to make rules to the appropriate agency. Most of these agencies or commissions are part of the executive branch of government.
Administrative rules and regulations flesh out the laws passed by the legislative branch. In other words, the regulations go into much greater detail about the law, and are considered primary law.
Federal rules are first published in the Federal Register, which is published daily. After a notice and comment period, the final version of a rule is published in the Federal Register. The rules are then published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which is arranged by subject. (Although, like the CFR, the USC is also arranged by subject and both have 50 titles, those titles are not identical.)
States have administrative publications as well. For instance, New York’s equivalent to the Federal Register is the New York State Register, and New York’s equivalent to the CFR is the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR).
Administrative decisions occur when an agency is authorized to hear actual legal disputes. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is empowered to make decisions about civil rights violation disputes. Administrative decisions are often published in loose-leaf services and many are available on Westlaw and Lexis and on agency websites. Administrative decisions are published in different reporters for different agencies.
