Laws

The bylaws a government adopts, and the documents it publishes on its own site. A document says whether its text is held.

BylawsCopy Anchor Link

Filter by subject for a bylaw's core subject; subject fees_charges is a fees and charges bylaw.

GET /v1/bylaws

List bylaws. Bylaws by number, title, kind and adoption date. Billed as one records request a page. Filters: jurisdiction, region, country, kind, subject, from, to, since.

Reference and playground for list bylaws

Filters

Parameter	What it takes
jurisdiction	A jurisdiction id.
region	A two-letter province or state code.
country	CA or US.
kind	bylaw, amendment, consolidated, repeal.
subject	A bylaw's core subject, as the bylaw-subject model read its text. fees_charges is a body's fees and charges bylaw.
from	On or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
to	On or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
since	Records read at or after this instant: what is new since your last read.

Pages with limit and cursor (pagination).

Fields of each result, GET /v1/bylaws

Field	Type	What it holds
id	string
jurisdiction_id	string
country	string or null
region	string or null
number	string or null
title	string or null
kind	string or null
adopted_on	string or null	YYYY-MM-DD.
text_available	boolean
subject	string or null	The core subject its text regulates: zoning, building, animal_control, fire_burning, noise, trees, business_licence, fees_charges or other. Null: not yet read, or nothing says.
first_seen_at	string or null	ISO 8601 instant, UTC.
source_url	string or null	The page, document, video or platform the record was read from.
read_at	string or null	When it was read.

GET /v1/bylaws/{id}

Retrieve a bylaw. One bylaw. Billed as one records request.

Reference and playground for retrieve a bylaw

Path: {id} such as 123456.

Defined termsCopy Anchor Link

The terms a government's bylaws define, such as "accessory building", each with the start of its definition as printed. Read them to learn a place's own word for a thing before you search.

GET /v1/defined-terms

List defined terms. The terms a body's bylaws define (an 'accessory building', a 'protected tree'), each with the start of its definition, as printed. Billed as one records request a page. Filters: jurisdiction, region, country, term, since.

Reference and playground for list defined terms

Filters

Parameter	What it takes
jurisdiction	A jurisdiction id.
region	A two-letter province or state code.
country	CA or US.
term	Words in the defined term.
since	Records read at or after this instant: what is new since your last read.

Pages with limit and cursor (pagination).

Fields of each result, GET /v1/defined-terms

Field	Type	What it holds
id	string
jurisdiction_id	string
country	string or null
region	string or null
term	string	As the bylaw prints it.
definition	string	The definition's first words, at most 400 characters, as printed.
source_url	string or null	The page, document, video or platform the record was read from.
read_at	string or null	When it was read.

DocumentsCopy Anchor Link

For a meeting's agenda package, minutes and attachments, see meeting documents.

GET /v1/documents

List documents. The documents a government publishes on its own site, by kind (staff reports, budgets, plans, bylaws, notices), and whether their text is held. Billed as one records request a page. Filters: jurisdiction, region, country, kind, from, to, since.

Reference and playground for list documents

Filters

Parameter	What it takes
jurisdiction	A jurisdiction id.
region	A two-letter province or state code.
country	CA or US.
kind	staff_report, budget, plan, bylaw, agenda, minutes, notice, map, form, other.
from	On or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
to	On or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
since	Records read at or after this instant: what is new since your last read.

Pages with limit and cursor (pagination).

Fields of each result, GET /v1/documents

Field	Type	What it holds
id	string
jurisdiction_id	string
country	string or null
region	string or null
kind	string or null	staff_report, budget, plan, bylaw, agenda, minutes, notice, map, form, other.
title	string or null
bylaw_number	string or null
dated_on	string or null	YYYY-MM-DD.
text_available	boolean
last_changed_at	string or null	ISO 8601 instant, UTC.
source_url	string or null	The page, document, video or platform the record was read from.
read_at	string or null	When it was read.