Methodology
How the Regulatory Data Center sources, verifies, and versions its datasets, and the honest limits of what we publish.
Sourcing
Every figure is computed live from the same database tables that power our state-law library and licensing data index. Requirements and surety bond amounts come from regulator-published statutes and rules compiled state by state. The change log comes from tracked regulatory bulletins and monitored source updates. Nothing on a dataset page is hand-typed: if a figure is not in the underlying corpus, it does not appear.
Verification
Each state-law row carries a "last verified" timestamp. That stamp moves only when the row's content is actually re-checked or changed against the regulator source, never on a timer, so a fresh date means a real review. The newest verification date across the corpus right now is not yet computed, and every dataset page shows the date for its own slice.
Change detection
A content hash is recorded for every state-law guide. When the underlying content drifts, an update event is logged naming the fields that changed. Those events, plus curated regulatory bulletins, feed the change log and its RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. Tracking is live; entries publish as events are recorded.
Snapshot anchors
Quarterly snapshot anchors give citations a stable, dated reference. An anchor page renders the current data plus every change recorded since the anchor date, which lets a reader verify whether a figure cited at that anchor still holds. Anchors exist only for quarters at or after the earliest recorded event, so no snapshot claims coverage of a period before tracking began.
Exports and reuse
Each dataset ships a CSV and JSON export generated from the same query as the page, plus an embeddable widget that always carries a source link. Reuse is welcome with attribution: cite Cornerstone Licensing and link to the dataset page you drew from.
Honest limits
A license type appears only when its dataset is substantially complete. States missing a published figure are excluded from that view rather than estimated. Nothing on these pages is legal advice; verify effective dates with the state regulator linked in each guide before acting.