1-103.Effect of headings.

This Code, like most statutes, is organized with headings above its Articles, Parts, and Sections. This section makes clear those headings carry no legal weight of their own. A heading cannot govern, limit, modify, or in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions underneath it.

That leaves the headings as navigation aids rather than substantive text. A reader can rely on a heading to find the right provision, but not to argue that the heading narrows or expands what the text underneath says.

The rule reaches every level of heading used in the Code, from Article titles down to individual Section headings, and it applies whether the argument is that a heading should narrow a provision or broaden it.