Public domain format or neutral citations are references to cases that do not refer to a particular vendor’s source (such as West Group’s regional reporters) or to a particular type of source (such as a reporter, a CD-ROM, or an Internet site).

Information on cases should be entered using the Public domain format only when you are preparing documents for submission to local courts that require citations in this format.

As of the time of preparing this style guide, the following states require that citations be made to the public domain format (numbered decisions, numbered paragraphs) for the decision:

Colorado
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Montana
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico

Always check the most current local court rules for accurate information on the requirements for public domain citations in your documents.

See the legalcitation.net styleguide for more information on public domain (medium neutral) citation format.