A statute is simply a law enacted by the Legislature. The New York booklet gives the definition in that stripped-down form because the word appears constantly throughout notarial practice—Executive Law sections, Real Property Law sections, Public Officers Law sections, and procedural rules that interact with the office.
For readers, the value of the term is mostly structural. It reminds you that many notarial duties do not come from custom or local habit but from enacted law. That is why a New York notary glossary repeatedly cross-references sections such as Executive Law §§130-138, Real Property Law §§298-309-b, and CPLR §2309.
Why it matters: The word itself is basic, but it frames the whole subject. A notary’s authority is statutory, and so are the office’s limits.
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