State law takes two forms, statutes and regulations (sometimes referred to as rules). The legislature makes statutory law, and state agencies under the executive branch of government make regulations. Regulations cannot contradict statutes but often expand upon the statutes to include more detail of government administration.

When a member of the public wants to change a statute, the advocate must enlist the help of a state legislator, who can introduce a bill that will change the current statute. When a member of the public wants to change a regulation, the advocate must either convince the state agency that is responsible for the regulation to change the regulation or convince a legislator to introduce a bill that, if enacted, would override the regulation.

When an agency decides to change a regulation, the agency writes a new regulation, publishes the regulation in an official state publication, and invites comments from interested parties. The agency may or may not make changes to the proposed regulation based on comments received from interested parties. A proposed regulation becomes a final regulation—law—after it has been published in proposed form and comments have been reviewed. Final regulations are republished, in final form, in the state’s “register,” an official publication of the state.

Much of the state law governing NPs appears in regulations; some law is statutory. The practice issues that come under state regulation are:

Chapter 1 lists the state law regarding the definition of an NP. Chapter 2 lists the state law regarding the scope of practice of NPs and collaboration requirements. Chapter 5 lists the state law regarding NP prescriptive privileges.