Which statement describes a statute?

• A. A local law enacted by a city or county.
• B. A regulation issued by a city council.
• C. A rule created by a state executive agency.
• D. A state or federal law enacted by the legislature.

Answer: (D)

Statutes are laws passed by a legislative body at either the state or federal level. They come from the legislative process and establish broad legal requirements that guide behavior and policy. The statement describing a state or federal law enacted by the legislature matches this idea exactly, since statutes are created by lawmakers in those bodies.

Local laws by a city or county are ordinances, not statutes, and regulations are the detailed rules issued by administrative agencies to implement statutes—these implement, rather than create, the law.