Statutes are laws passed by state legislatures (state laws) and by the United States Congress (federal laws). Statutes are one of the primary sources of law in the United States (sometimes referred to as statutory law) and cover a wide variety of legal topics. Courts often rely on statutes to resolve legal disputes (lawsuits) by applying the relevant statutes to the particular set of factual circumstances underlying the dispute.

Courts generally seek the clear and plain meaning of a statute, and if the court finds a statute ambiguous or “ambiguous on its face” (looking only at the words as written) the court may attempt to determine what the legislature intended in enacting the statute—known as legislative intent.

Related statutes are sometimes compiled in groups and referred to as codes—such as the penal code, the family code, or the code of civil procedure. Statutes may be amended (changed) or repealed (eliminated) by the legislature or Congress or declared unconstitutional (and thus unenforceable) by a court.

In Missouri, as in other states, statutes are laws enacted by the state legislature or the United States Congress. These statutes encompass a broad range of legal areas and are a fundamental source of law, often guiding courts in resolving legal disputes. Missouri courts interpret statutes by seeking their clear and plain meaning. When a statute is ambiguous, courts may look into legislative intent to ascertain what the Missouri General Assembly aimed to achieve when passing the law. Missouri has various codes that compile related statutes, such as the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo), which include codes for criminal law, family law, and civil procedure, among others. These statutes can be updated or modified through legislative amendments, and they can be repealed if the legislature decides to remove them. Additionally, if a statute is challenged and found to be unconstitutional by the judiciary, it becomes unenforceable in the state of Missouri.