Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 383 - Maternal and Infant Health Care

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Architecture: means the rendering or offering to render services in connection with the design and construction of a structure or group of structures which have as their principal purpose human habitation or use, and the utilization of space within and surrounding such structures. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Board: means the Board of Architecture and Interior Design. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Board: means the Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel. See Florida Statutes 483.803
• Board: means the Board of Opticianry. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Board: means the Board of Landscape Architecture. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• Board-certified optician: means an optician licensed in this state who:
  (a) Has passed the National Contact Lens Registry Examination;
  (b) Has successfully completed a board-approved course of at least 20 contact hours covering the competencies required in fitting, adapting, and dispensing of contact lenses;
  (c) Has met any other requirements established by the board to assure competence in the fitting, adapting, and dispensing of contact lenses;
  (d) Has completed the application form and remitted a nonrefundable application fee set by the board not to exceed $100; and
  (e) Has been issued a certificate by the department. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Certificate of registration: means a license issued by the department to a natural person to engage in the practice of landscape architecture. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• Clinical laboratory: means the physical location in which one or more of the following services are performed to provide information or materials for use in the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a disease or the identification or assessment of a medical or physical condition:
  (a) Clinical laboratory services, which entail the examination of fluids or other materials taken from the human body. See Florida Statutes 483.803
• Clinical laboratory personnel: includes a clinical laboratory director, supervisor, technologist, blood gas analyst, or technician who performs or is responsible for laboratory test procedures, but the term does not include trainees, persons who perform screening for blood banks or plasmapheresis centers, phlebotomists, or persons employed by a clinical laboratory to perform manual pretesting duties or clerical, personnel, or other administrative responsibilities. See Florida Statutes 483.803
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contact lenses: means a prescribed medical device intended to be worn directly against the cornea of the eye to correct vision conditions, act as a therapeutic device, or provide a cosmetic effect. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 483.803
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 483.913
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Department: means the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Genetic counselor: means a person licensed under this part to practice genetic counseling. See Florida Statutes 483.913
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Interior decorator services: includes the selection or assistance in selection of surface materials, window treatments, wallcoverings, paint, floor coverings, surface-mounted lighting, surface-mounted fixtures, and loose furnishings not subject to regulation under applicable building codes. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Interior design: includes , but is not limited to, reflected ceiling plans, space planning, furnishings, and the fabrication of nonstructural elements within and surrounding interior spaces of buildings. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Landscape architecture: means professional services, including, but not limited to, the following:
  (a) Consultation, investigation, research, planning, design, preparation of drawings, specifications, contract documents and reports, responsible construction supervision, or landscape management in connection with the planning and development of land and incidental water areas, including the use of Florida-friendly landscaping as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• Landscape design: means consultation for and preparation of planting plans drawn for compensation, including specifications and installation details for plant materials, soil amendments, mulches, edging, gravel, and other similar materials. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• oath: includes affirmations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Optician: means any person licensed to practice opticianry pursuant to this part. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Opticianry: means the preparation and dispensing of lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other optical devices to the intended user or agent thereof, upon the written prescription of a licensed allopathic or osteopathic physician or optometrist who is duly licensed to practice or upon presentation of a duplicate prescription. See Florida Statutes 484.002
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• registered architect: means a natural person who is licensed under this part to engage in the practice of architecture. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Registered interior designer: means a natural person who holds a valid certificate of registration to practice interior design. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Registered landscape architect: means a person who holds a license to practice landscape architecture in this state under the authority of this act. See Florida Statutes 481.303
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Responsible supervising control: means the exercise of direct personal supervision and control throughout the preparation of documents, instruments of service, or any other work requiring the seal and signature of a licensee under this part. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Townhouse: means a single-family dwelling unit not exceeding three stories in height which is constructed in a series or group of attached units with property lines separating such units. See Florida Statutes 481.203
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01