Also known as: local statutes · local law · municipal ordinance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statute that applies only within a specific locality or to particular persons or things rather than statewide or to a general class.
Lamar Lewis leased commercial space from Legacy Motors for a five-year term that ended on March 1. After the lease terminated Lewis remained in possession and continued operations. Legacy Motors filed an action in the local court seeking recovery of possession under the judicial remedies supplied by the controlling local statute.
A city council enacted a local statute requiring all handgun dealers within city limits to perform background checks and transmit results to a municipal database. Several dealers refused to comply. The local court enforced the ordinance against the dealers under the terms of the local statute.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lillian Locke leased trailers titled in State K to a trucking firm that garaged them in State L. Judgment creditors in State L sought to levy on the trailers. The court applied a local statute of State L that governed priority of liens on chattels located within its borders.
Lena Lawson sold equipment located partly in State X and partly in State Y to a buyer domiciled in State Z. Both X and Y maintained identical local statutes on the effect of a sale of goods. The court applied the local statute of the single aggregated state to resolve the priority dispute.
Leah Lamb conveyed land situated in State M by deed executed in State N. In a later quiet-title action filed in State N the court applied its own local statute governing pleadings and joinder while referring capacity questions to the law selected under conflicts rules.
Lance Lee purchased waterfront property in State P from a seller domiciled in State Q. A dispute later arose over the effect of the deed. The forum court applied the local statute of State P governing deed formalities so that the outcome would match the result a court sitting in State P would reach.
A local statute applies only within a particular locality or to specific persons or things. A general statute applies statewide or to an entire class. Black's Law Dictionary defines local statute by reference to these limited-scope meanings.
Supporting sources
A court applies a local statute when the issue is confined to persons, things, or territory within the enacting locality. The statute's own terms determine its limited geographic or personal reach.
The court may treat the contacts as grouped under one local statute whose text governs the issue. This avoids fragmentation when the substantive rules are the same across localities.
Yes. The federal government may not issue directives requiring state or local officers to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. The Supreme Court applied this principle to strike down provisions that commanded local law enforcement to conduct background checks.
…by us, that the section did apply, or was intended to apply, to questions of a more general nature, not at all dependent upon local statutes or local usages of a fixed and permanent operation, as, for example, to the construction of ordinary contracts or other written instruments, and especially to questions of general…