Citation Guides · District of Columbia
How to Cite District of Columbia Statutes
District of Columbia statutes are cited in a fixed format that identifies the code and section. The pattern below is the standard Bluebook form used in briefs, memos, and academic writing; always check the local court rules for jurisdiction-specific variations.
The format
D.C. Code § xx-xxx (year)
D.C. Code § 12-301
The pieces, in order
- Code name. District of Columbia's compiled statutes are cited as shown in the pattern above. The abbreviation is fixed; do not improvise (D.C. Code § 12-301 is the accepted form).
- Section number. The § symbol plus the section as District of Columbia numbers it. Copy the punctuation exactly: hyphens, periods, and colons are part of the number.
- Parenthetical. Academic Bluebook style adds the code edition year in parentheses. Practitioner filings commonly omit it, and courts accept the bare cite.
Common mistakes
- Improvising the code abbreviation. Style manuals fix the form shown above; variants like "District of Columbia Code Ann." spelled differently are flagged by citation checkers and editors.
- Dropping or altering the internal punctuation of the section number. The hyphens, colons, and periods encode the code's structure.
- Citing a repealed or renumbered section. Codes are recompiled continuously; verify the section is current before filing.
Citing District of Columbia court cases
District of Columbia appellate decisions appear in the Atlantic Reporter (currently A.3d), the regional reporter covering District of Columbia. Because the regional reporter spans multiple states, the court parenthetical must identify the court: a decision of the state's highest court is cited (D.C. [year]). Some District of Columbia courts also have official or public-domain citation formats; check the court's rules for whether a parallel citation is required.
Check your citations against real law
CiteLaw's AI Navigator verifies District of Columbia citations against a corpus of real cases, statutes, rules, and regulations: it confirms the authority exists, the format is right, and the law is still good. General chatbots can invent citations; CiteLaw checks them.
More citation guides
Formats follow standard Bluebook conventions. Individual courts may impose their own citation rules; always check the local rules of the court you are filing in. CiteLaw provides legal information, not legal advice.