Jenkins' Research Tip: Pennsylvania Statute Citations Explained.

P.S. is the citation abbreviation for Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes, the unofficial codification of the Pennsylvania laws published by Thomson Reuters (formerly West). John Purdon, Jr. was one of the original publishers of a subject version of the Laws of Pennsylvania, and the Purdon’s name was continued in subsequent editions.

Pa.C.S. is the citation abbreviation for Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the official codification of the Pennsylvania laws. This codification was created by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1970 (P.L. 707, Act # 230) and is an ongoing process.

Pa.C.S.A. is the citation abbreviation for Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated, an annotated edition of the official codification, Pa.C.S, published by Thomson Reuters.

For the latest, up-to-date version of the statutes, use Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes Annotated published by Thomson Reuters. This publication contains both the P.S. and the Pa.C.S.A. Visit the Pennsylvania Legal Research Resource Guide for additional information on researching the Pennsylvania Statutes.