42 U.S.C. § 12131
Section 12131 · Definitions
This is § 201 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1,091 court decisions — leading case Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey (1998)
Most recently applied in In re K.O. (September 2025)
Applied most in the First Circuit Circuit (77 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 42 U.S.C. § 12132 · 29 U.S.C. § 794 · 42 U.S.C. § 1983
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment and consequential amendments — watch for a citation surge after a change. 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.
As used in this subchapter:
(1) Public entity
The term “public entity” means—
(A) any State or local government;
(B) any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or States or local government; and
(C) the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and any commuter authority (as defined in section 24102(4) of title 49).
(2) Qualified individual with a disability
The term “qualified individual with a disability” means an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
In par. (1)(C), “section 24102(4) of title 49” substituted for “section 103(8) of the Rail Passenger Service Act” on authority of Pub. L. 103–272, §6(b), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1378, the first section of which enacted subtitles II, III, and V to X of Title 49, Transportation.
Effective Date
Section 205 of Pub. L. 101–336 provided that:
“(a) General Rule.—Except as provided in subsection (b), this subtitle [subtitle A (§§201–205) of title II of Pub. L. 101–336, enacting this part] shall become effective 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [July 26, 1990].
“(b) Exception.—Section 204 [section 12134 of this title] shall become effective on the date of enactment of this Act.”