Office of Administrative Law (OAL)

What Office of Administrative Law (OAL) does

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) is a California state government agency established on July 1, 1980, and operating under the Government Operations Agency since July 1, 2013. OAL's core function is to review administrative regulations proposed by over 200 California state agencies for compliance with the state's Administrative Procedure Act (APA), transmit approved regulations to the Secretary of State, and publish them in the California Code of Regulations (CCR). The CCR comprises 28 Titles across 40 three-ring binders containing more than 31,000 pages, updated weekly, alongside a weekly California Regulatory Notice Register that lists proposed regulatory actions.

OAL's technology platform is built primarily on Microsoft infrastructure: the OAL eSubmissions Portal, launched April 1, 2026, runs on Microsoft SharePoint (cadgs.sharepoint.com/sites/OAL-eSubmissions) and is the mandatory intake channel for all electronic regulatory submissions from state agencies, replacing email-based intake. Training programs are delivered via Microsoft Teams, instructional videos are hosted on YouTube, and site search is provided by Google Custom Search. OAL also accepts petitions challenging alleged underground regulations (rules adopted without APA procedures) through its informally known "Chapter Two Unit," and issues determinations. Publication of the official CCR and Notice Register is handled under contract by West Publishing Corporation (Thomson Reuters), with online access via Westlaw (govt.westlaw.com/calregs); under the current contract model, the publisher pays the state for the exclusive right to publish.

OAL is a state instrumentality with no commercial revenue model. It is funded through California state appropriations. The only user-facing fees are nominal: the 3-Day Rulemaking Training Course at $460 per person, free Underground Regulations Training for state agency personnel, and the annual APA booklet at $8 per copy plus shipping. Distribution channels include direct online access, state depository libraries, and county law libraries for hardcopy materials. OAL's customers are exclusively California state agencies subject to the APA and, secondarily, members of the public who participate in rulemaking or file underground-regulation petitions. Leadership consists of Director Kenneth J. Pogue, with oversight from Secretary Nick Maduros of the Government Operations Agency.

Name

Office of Administrative Law (OAL)

Legal name

Office of Administrative Law

Website

https://oal.ca.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The Office of Administrative Law is a California state agency that reviews administrative regulations from over 200 state agencies for compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act and publishes the official California Code of Regulations and weekly Notice Register.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Regulatory Services

NAICS

Public Administration (92), Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (926150)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Central Government Policy, Strategy & Performance (incl. OMB-style functions) (BPAIAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

State Legislature/Regional Assembly Administration (BPAIABAB)

Keywords

• Administrative regulations review
• Regulatory compliance services
• Government rulemaking oversight
• California administrative law
• Regulatory training programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) is a California state government agency that reviews administrative regulations proposed by over 200 California state agencies to ensure compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). OAL also publishes the California Code of Regulations and the Notice Register, and provides training and guidance to state agencies on the rulemaking process.

Product overview

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) is a California state regulatory agency, not a commercial technology product company. OAL provides governmental regulatory services centered on the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The core offerings include: (1) Rulemaking Process Oversight - reviewing regulations from over 200 state agencies for APA compliance; (2) California Code of Regulations (CCR) - the official compilation of California regulations, published weekly through Thomson Reuters/Westlaw; (3) California Regulatory Notice Register - the weekly publication of proposed regulatory actions; (4) Underground Regulations Program - petition review for regulations adopted without APA procedures; (5) eSubmissions Portal - electronic document submission system for state agencies; and (6) Training Programs - APA rulemaking courses for agency personnel and public information sessions. OAL also publishes the annual APA Rulemaking Law book and Rulemaking Calendar as reference materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• California Code of Regulations
• Notice Register
• Rulemaking Training Programs
• Administrative Regulation Review Service

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• West Publishing Corporation (Thomson Reuters)coreOthers · 3 December 2025West Publishing Corporation, doing business as West, a Thomson Reuters business, was awarded the contract for publication of the Official California Code of Regulations and the California Regulatory Notice Register. The publisher is responsible for producing hardcopy and online versions of the CCR, updating weekly, and publishing the Notice Register weekly. Under the current contract model, the publisher pays the state for the exclusive right to publish.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary: Professional association supporting administrative law judges and hearing officers across U.S. jurisdictions; adjacent ecosystem participant that shares OAL's rulemaking and APA-compliance domain.
• Thomson Reuters (West): Contracted publisher of the California Code of Regulations and Notice Register; comparable as the dominant legal-information platform serving OAL's downstream consumers, and adjacent as the channel through which OAL's official record is monetized.

Direct peers

• California Secretary of State: Receives OAL-approved regulations for filing and is part of the same California regulatory workflow; directly comparable as a co-equal state office in the APA rulemaking pipeline.
• California Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH): California state agency that conducts administrative law hearings and adjudicates disputes; directly comparable as another California administrative-law body serving state agencies under the APA.

Regional players

• Texas Administrative Code / Office of the Secretary of State (Texas): Another state's statutory system for compiling, publishing and reviewing administrative regulations; a regional peer whose structure and scope mirror OAL's California function in a different jurisdiction.

Broad incumbents

• Wolters Kluwer Regulatory Compliance: Provides regulatory compliance software and information services to government and regulated entities; a broad incumbent offering overlapping capabilities in rulemaking tracking and compliance publishing.
• LexisNexis (RELX): Major legal and regulatory information provider serving attorneys and government agencies; analogous to West/Thomson Reuters and competes for the same regulatory-data distribution layer.
• U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OIRA): Federal-level regulatory review authority (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB) that performs centralized review of agency rulemaking, the closest functional analog to OAL's statutory review role but at federal scope.

Emerging players

• Bloomberg Government: Subscription regulatory intelligence service focused on federal and state rulemaking activity; an emerging private-sector comparator for the rulemaking intelligence function that OAL publishes weekly via the Notice Register.
• FiscalNote: Regulatory intelligence and policy-tracking platform used by state agencies and lobbyists; an emerging private-sector alternative to manual state-level regulatory monitoring that could complement or compete with OAL's review role.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/office-of-administrative-law

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Office of Administrative Law (OAL)