State Historic Preservation Legislation Database

Posted November 20, 2003

1999 State Historic Preservation Legislation Database

Introduction to the Database

The State Historic Preservation Legislation Database was developed under a grant from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service, by the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers in cooperation with the National Conference of State Legislatures. The content of the database was researched and written by Jeffrey P. Shrimpton, historic preservation consultant, for the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

The State Historic Preservation Legislation Database contains a comprehensive listing and narrative summaries for all state legislation or state constitution articles that contain specific references to:

Historic properties;
Archeological sites or materials collected from archeological sites; or
Culturally significant unmarked human burials and associated burial objects.

The database contains citations from the legislative code books from the fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. For the few cases where pertinent legislation has not been written into the state code, the act itself has been cited, if available. State constitution articles are also summarized where applicable. The database is organized by state, but may be cross-referenced online through a list of Query Topics or through specific word searches.

Each record in the database contains the following information:

Name of the state code book;
Citation;
Title of the pertinent code section, act or constitutional article;
Narrative summary;
Topics by which the particular citation may be cross-referenced.

All entries in the database reflect enacted legislation. Whether or not the states have funded or otherwise followed through on individual legislated programs has not been addressed by this project. The user is advised to consult directly with the appropriate State Historic Preservation Officer for such information.

Each State Historic Preservation Officer has been provided an opportunity to review the database entries for legislation in his or her state.

Links

National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers

National Trust for Historic Preservation

National Center for Preservation Technology and Training

Acknowledgements

Funding for this database was provided as a grant from the National Park Services's National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), Natchitoches, Louisiana. Contents of the report are solely the responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of NPS or NCPTT.

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training promotes and enhances the preservation of prehistoric and historic resources in the United States for present and future generations through the advancement and dissemination of preservation technology and training. NCPTT's Preservation Technology and Training Grants program develops partners in nonprofit organizations, universities and government agencies throughout the United States to complete critical preservation work and lends significant support to cutting-edge developments in the conservation and preservation community.

The following individuals assisted greatly in the completion of this project:

Jennifer Moore-Evans of NCSL for designing the database and for providing tireless technical support;
Doug Sacarto of NCSL for designing the website;
Anita Zepp of NCSHPO for helping to create the initial data entry template;
Eugene Itogawa of the California Office of Historic Preservation for his detailed review and helpful suggestions during the initial design process of the database;
Jon Fernald, director of reader services at the at the Northeastern University Law School Library in Boston, Massachusetts, for graciously allowing access to the library's collection;
and Rebecca Shrimpton for editing and assistance in developing the list of Query Topics.

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