31 U.S.C. § 1342
Section 1342 · Limitation on voluntary services
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 21 court decisions — leading case 823 F. Supp. 181 - Suss v. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1993)
Most recently applied in United States v. State of Texas (March 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not accept voluntary services for either government or employ personal services exceeding that authorized by law except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. This section does not apply to a corporation getting amounts to make loans (except paid in capital amounts) without legal liability of the United States Government. As used in this section, the term "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property" does not include ongoing, regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words "District of Columbia government" are added because of section 47–105 of the D.C. Code.
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–92 temporarily amended section by inserting "All officers and employees of the United States Government or the District of Columbia government shall be deemed to be performing services relating to emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property." after first sentence and by striking out at end "As used in this section, the term 'emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property' does not include ongoing, regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property". See Effective and Termination Dates of 1996 Amendment note below.
1990—Pub. L. 101–508 inserted at end "As used in this section, the term 'emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property' does not include ongoing, regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property."
Effective and Termination Dates of 1996 Amendment
Pub. L. 104–92, title III, §310(a), Jan. 6, 1996, 110 Stat. 20, provided that the amendment made by that section is for the period Dec. 15, 1995, through Jan. 26, 1996.