diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/api/BylawApiController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/api/BylawApiController.php
index 6573926..95fd134 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/api/BylawApiController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/api/BylawApiController.php
@@ -80,16 +80,20 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
         $perPage = min(max((int) $request->input('per_page', 15), 10), 100);
         $paginator = $query->paginate($perPage);
 
-        // Pre-fetch ALL nodes directly via DB facade for speed and reliability
-        $documentIds = collect($paginator->items())->pluck('id');
-        $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
-            ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
-            ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
-            ->get()
-            ->groupBy('document_id');
+        // BULLETPROOF NODE FETCHING
+        $documentIds = collect($paginator->items())->pluck('id')->toArray();
+        $allNodes = collect();
+        if (!empty($documentIds)) {
+            $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+                ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
+                ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+                ->get();
+        }
 
         $items = collect($paginator->items())->map(function ($item) use ($allNodes) {
-            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $allNodes->get($item->id, collect()));
+            // Safely filter nodes belonging ONLY to this specific document
+            $itemNodes = $allNodes->where('document_id', $item->id);
+            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $itemNodes);
         });
 
         $responseData = [
@@ -116,8 +120,12 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
             ], 404);
         }
 
-        // Fetch nodes using DB facade for the format function, but Eloquent for the nodes array
-        $rawNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')->where('document_id', $bylaw->id)->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')->get();
+        // Fetch nodes using raw DB
+        $rawNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+            ->where('document_id', $bylaw->id)
+            ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+            ->get();
+
         $formatted = $this->formatBylaw($bylaw, $rawNodes);
 
         if (!$formatted['is_locked']) {
@@ -203,15 +211,19 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
         $perPage = min(max((int) $request->input('per_page', 15), 10), 100);
         $paginator = $query->paginate($perPage);
 
-        $documentIds = collect($paginator->items())->pluck('id');
-        $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
-            ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
-            ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
-            ->get()
-            ->groupBy('document_id');
+        // BULLETPROOF NODE FETCHING
+        $documentIds = collect($paginator->items())->pluck('id')->toArray();
+        $allNodes = collect();
+        if (!empty($documentIds)) {
+            $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+                ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
+                ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+                ->get();
+        }
 
         $items = collect($paginator->items())->map(function ($item) use ($allNodes) {
-            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $allNodes->get($item->id, collect()));
+            $itemNodes = $allNodes->where('document_id', $item->id);
+            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $itemNodes);
         });
 
         $responseData = [
@@ -250,15 +262,19 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
         $count = $query->count();
         $items = $query->orderBy('approval_date', 'desc')->take(5)->get();
 
-        $documentIds = $items->pluck('id');
-        $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
-            ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
-            ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
-            ->get()
-            ->groupBy('document_id');
+        // BULLETPROOF NODE FETCHING
+        $documentIds = $items->pluck('id')->toArray();
+        $allNodes = collect();
+        if (!empty($documentIds)) {
+            $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+                ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
+                ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+                ->get();
+        }
 
         $formattedItems = $items->map(function ($item) use ($allNodes) {
-            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $allNodes->get($item->id, collect()));
+            $itemNodes = $allNodes->where('document_id', $item->id);
+            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $itemNodes);
         });
 
         return $this->success([
@@ -319,15 +335,18 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
 
         $itemsToFormat = array_filter([$previousItem, $current, $nextItem]);
 
-        $documentIds = collect($itemsToFormat)->pluck('id');
-        $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
-            ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
-            ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
-            ->get()
-            ->groupBy('document_id');
+        $documentIds = collect($itemsToFormat)->pluck('id')->toArray();
+        $allNodes = collect();
+        if (!empty($documentIds)) {
+            $allNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+                ->whereIn('document_id', $documentIds)
+                ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+                ->get();
+        }
 
         $results = array_values(array_map(function($item) use ($allNodes) {
-            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $allNodes->get($item->id, collect()));
+            $itemNodes = $allNodes->where('document_id', $item->id);
+            return $this->formatBylaw($item, $itemNodes);
         }, $itemsToFormat));
 
         return $this->success($results, 'Success', 'Pager Window Details');
@@ -341,30 +360,34 @@ class BylawApiController extends Controller
     /**
      * BULLETPROOF DESCRIPTION GENERATOR
      */
-    private function formatBylaw($item, $preloadedNodes = null)
+    private function formatBylaw($item, $itemNodes = null)
     {
         $isLocked = $this->isLockedForCurrentUser($item);
+        $description = $item->description;
 
-        // 1. We ALWAYS try to build the description from the `node_content` FIRST.
-        $nodes = $preloadedNodes !== null
-            ? $preloadedNodes
-            : DB::table('bylaw_nodes')->where('document_id', $item->id)->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')->get();
+        // Check if description is practically empty (less than 5 chars = garbage HTML)
+        $cleanDesc = trim(str_replace([' ', '‌', "\r", "\n", "\t", ' '], '', strip_tags($description ?? '')));
 
-        $nodeContents = [];
-        foreach ($nodes as $node) {
-            // We specifically ask for the node_content column here
-            $content = trim(strip_tags($node->node_content ?? ''));
-            if (!empty($content)) {
-                $nodeContents[] = $content;
+        if (strlen($cleanDesc) < 5) {
+
+            // Absolute Safety Net: If somehow $itemNodes is still null, FORCE a direct query for this specific ID.
+            if ($itemNodes === null) {
+                $itemNodes = DB::table('bylaw_nodes')
+                    ->where('document_id', $item->id)
+                    ->orderBy('sort_order', 'asc')
+                    ->get();
             }
-        }
 
-        // Stitch them all together
-        $description = implode("\n\n", $nodeContents);
+            $nodeContents = [];
+            foreach ($itemNodes as $node) {
+                // EXPLICITLY GET node_content
+                $content = trim(strip_tags($node->node_content ?? ''));
+                if (!empty($content)) {
+                    $nodeContents[] = $content;
+                }
+            }
 
-        // 2. If node_content is COMPLETELY EMPTY across all nodes, ONLY THEN do we fallback to the old description
-        if (empty(trim(strip_tags($description)))) {
-            $description = $item->description;
+            $description = implode("\n\n", $nodeContents);
         }
 
         return [