The NCCUSL Archives

Under the terms of a custodial agreement between the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) and Penn, NCCUSL moved some of its records from its Chicago office to Biddle Law Library in 1994. A solicitation for papers was sent to individual Commissioners who were NCCUSL's Presidents, Executive Directors, reporters for study or drafting committees, advisors and observers to drafting committees, and other officers or key staff, all of whom maintain their own records.

Electronic Drafts and Final Acts

In addition to its role as repository for print-based NCCUSL records, the Biddle Law Library Archives also maintains the official website for electronic versions of drafts and final acts issued by NCCUSL in its mission to make its records available to the public. The Archives creates versions of each document in HTML, word processing, PDF, and ASCII text formats to facilitate downloading by a variety of software programs. The integrity of the site is monitored daily.

History of NCCUSL

NCCUSL (alternatively referred to as the Uniform Law Commissioners, or ULC) was founded in 1892 to promote uniformity in state law on all subjects where uniformity is desirable and practicable. Since its organization, NCCUSL has drafted over two hundred uniform laws, many of which have been widely enacted.

With the development of rapid transportation and communication, the states have become increasingly interdependent socially and economically so that a single transaction may cross many state lines and involve citizens in many states. A confusion of laws among the several states may present, in some fields, a deterrent to the free flow of goods, credit, services, and persons between the states; restrain full economic and social development; and generate pressures for federal intervention to compel uniformity. NCCUSL seeks to alleviate these problems.

With this charge, the NCCUSL's members draft acts on various subjects and endeavor to secure consideration of the approved acts in the various states.

NCCUSL is composed of commissioners (usually four in number) from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. State governors appoint lawyers, judges, legislators, and law school professors as Commissioners. While the usual term is three years, it is common for governors to reappoint active commissioners without regard to political affiliation. If a commissioner has served by official appointment for twenty or more years, he may become a life member. All commissioners are members of the Bar.

Scope and Content of Print Records

NCCUSL has sent 22 cubic feet of records from its Chicago office. The remainder of the 289 cubic feet of papers comes from individual commissioners, who maintain their own records while working on study and drafting projects. Most of the material consists of preliminary memoranda, organizational materials, drafts, comments on drafts, reports, Reporters' notes, and correspondence. The NCCUSL Archives are arranged into collections by the name of the commissioner and then into series by the name of the project.

Much of the material in the NCCUSL Archives relates to the drafting of the Uniform Commercial Code. Other projects represented in the collection include the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, the Uniform Partnership Act, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the Uniform Limited Partnership Act and the Uniform Interstate Family Act.

Commissioners who have sent papers to Biddle include:

Collection Guides

The Archives maintains guides to each collection that are available for internal use. Please contact the Archives for more information.