1/// <summary>

2        /// this checks if the string is a valid state abbreviation

3        /// </summary>

4        /// <param name="state"></param>

5        /// <returns>bool</returns>

6        public static bool CheckValidState(string state)
7        {
8            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(state)) return false;
9            string[] arrStates = { "AL", "AK", "AZ", "AR", "CA", "CO", "CT", "DE", "FL", "GA", "HI", "ID", 
10                "IL", "IN", "IA", "KS", "KY", "LA", "ME", "MD", "MA", "MI", "MN", "MS", "MO", "MT", "NE",
11                "NV", "NH", "NJ", "NM", "NY", "NC", "ND", "OH", "OK", "OR", "PA", "RI", "SC", "SD", "TN", 
12                "TX", "UT", "VT", "VA", "WA", "WV", "WI", "WY" };
13            try
14            {
15                foreach (string s in arrStates)
16                {
17                    if (state.ToUpper() == s)
18                    {
19                        //break out found a match

20                        return true;
21                    }
22                }
23            }
24            catch
25            {
26                return false;
27            }
28            //must not have found a match

29            return false;
30        }