In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, state law refers to the law of each separate U.S. state. The fifty states are separate sovereigns, with their own state constitutions, state governments, and state courts. All states have a

legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

which enacts state statutes, an executive branch that promulgates state regulations pursuant to statutory authorization, and a judicial branch that applies, interprets, and occasionally overturns both state statutes and regulations, as well as local ordinances. States retain plenary power to make laws covering anything not preempted by the federal Constitution, federal statutes, or international treaties ratified by the federal Senate. Normally, state supreme courts are the final interpreters of state institutions and state law, unless their interpretation itself presents a federal issue, in which case a decision may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by way of a petition for writ of '' certiorari''. State laws have dramatically diverged in the centuries since independence, to the extent that the United States cannot be regarded as one legal system (as to the majority of types of law traditionally under state control), but instead as 50 ''separate'' systems of tort law, family law,

property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual pro ...

contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to t ...

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

, and so on. Most cases are litigated in state courts and involve claims and defenses under state laws. In a 2012 report, the National Center for State Courts' Court Statistics Project found that state trial courts received 103.5 million newly filed cases in 2010, which consisted of 57.8 million traffic cases, 20.4 million criminal cases, 19.0 million civil cases, 5.9 million domestic relations cases, and 1.9 million juvenile cases. In 2010, state appellate courts received 272,795 new cases. By way of comparison, all federal district courts in 2010 together received only about 282,000 new civil cases, 77,000 new criminal cases, and 1.5 million bankruptcy cases, while federal appellate courts received 56,000 new cases.

State legal systems by state

* Law of Alabama *

Law of Alaska Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

Law of Arizona The Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) is the name given to the statutory laws in the state of Arizona. The ARS went into effect on January 9, 1956. It was most recently updated in the first regular session of the 53rd legislature. There are current ...

Law of Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

Law of California The law of California consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law. The California Codes form the general statutory law, and most state agency regulations are available in the Californi ...

Law of Colorado The law of Colorado consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, local, and case law. The ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Colorado is the foremost source ...

Law of Connecticut The law of Connecticut is the system of law and legal precedent of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Sources of law include the Constitution of Connecticut and the Connecticut General Statutes. Legal history Fundamental Orders of Connecticut The ...

Law of Delaware Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

Law of Florida The law of Florida consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The '' Florida Statutes'' form the general statutory law of Florida. Sources The Constitution of Florida ...

* Law of Georgia *

Law of Hawaii Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

Law of Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wy ...

Law of Illinois The law of Illinois consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The '' Illinois Compiled Statutes'' (ILCS) form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of ...

Law of Indiana The Indiana Code is the code of laws for the U.S. state of Indiana. The contents are the codification of all the laws currently in effect within Indiana. With roots going all the way back to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the laws of Indiana ha ...

* Law of Iowa * Law of Kansas * Law of Kentucky * Law of Louisiana * Law of Maine * Law of Maryland *

Law of Massachusetts The law of Massachusetts consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local ordinances. The ''General Laws of Massachusetts'' form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Massachusett ...

Law of Michigan The law of Michigan consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The ''Michigan Compiled Laws'' form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Michigan is the foremost source of state la ...

* Law of Minnesota * Law of Mississippi *

Law of Missouri The government of the U.S. state of Missouri is organized into the state government and local government, including county government, and city and municipal government. State government Constitution The fourth and last Constitution of M ...

* Law of Montana * Law of Nebraska * Law of Nevada *

Law of New Hampshire The law of New Hampshire is the state law of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It consists of the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, as well as the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, the New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules ...

Law of New Jersey The law of New Jersey consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local law. Sources The Constitution of New Jersey is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the New Jersey L ...

Law of New Mexico Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Law of New York Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

Law of North Carolina The law of North Carolina consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local law. Sources The Constitution of North Carolina is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the Gen ...

* Law of North Dakota *

Law of Ohio The law of Ohio consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory, local and common law. The ''Ohio Revised Code'' forms the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Ohio is the foremost source of state l ...

* Law of Oklahoma *

Law of Oregon The Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) is the codified body of statutory law governing the U.S. state of Oregon, as enacted by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, and occasionally by citizen initiative. The statutes are subordinate to the Oregon Constitut ...

Law of Pennsylvania The law of Pennsylvania consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The '' Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes'' form the general statutory law. Sources The Constitution of Pennsylvania is the fore ...

* Law of Rhode Island * Law of South Carolina * Law of South Dakota * Law of Tennessee * Law of Texas *

Law of Utah Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

* Law of Vermont *

Law of Virginia The law of Virginia consists of several levels of legal rules, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local laws. The ''Code of Virginia'' contains the codified legislation that define the general statutory laws for the Co ...

Law of Washington Law of Washington may refer to: * Law of Washington (state) * Law of Washington, D.C. {{Short pages monitor