Statutes are laws written and adopted by which bodies?

• A. Historically by tribes.
• B. Local neighborhood councils.
• C. Legislatures or administrative agencies.
• D. Courts and judges.

Answer: (C)

Statutes are formal, written laws created by bodies with the power to make law. The primary source is the legislature—state legislatures or Congress—that writes and passes statutes. Administrative agencies also write regulations to implement and enforce those statutes, acting under the authority granted by the legislature; these regulations carry legal force even though they’re not statutes themselves. Courts and judges interpret statutes and apply them to cases, rather than creating them. So the best answer recognizes that statutes originate from legislatures, with administrative agencies producing implementing regulations under that authority.