Public Domain Format

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Many states and their courts require citation to a public domain format (also called medium-neutral format). Public domain format citations do not refer to any commercial source or other reporter in any medium. Instead, they use a consecutively numbered system based on opinions as they are issued from a particular court. Check Table 1 for which states use public domain format and what form it takes. Always check local court rules when submitting any court documents.

Many states have created a system that does not fit the model below in (1), and you should follow whatever the jurisdiction in Table 1 indicates.

(1) The bluebook provides a default citation method with the following elements.

case name, year "state abbreviation" "court abbreviation" "sequential number of the decision"

(2) When referencing specific material, pinpoint to the appropriate paragraph(s).

(3) Parallel cite to a regional reporter if available.

(4) If an opinion has been deemed "unpublished" (i.e. not in a reporter), then put a U after the sequential number.

For example,

Richard v. Phillip Augustus, 2002 ND 145, ¶¶ 12-14, 54 N.W.2d 456, 460-62

Lusignan v. Conrad, 2003 ND Ct. App. 44, 98 N.W.2d 46

An example not using (1),

Bruce v. Longshanks, 2002-NMCA-333, 46 P.2d 900