Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 56 > Chapter 1 > Part II - Penalties and Enforcement Procedures

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Activity: means a distinct subset of functions or services within a program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Agency: means any state office, department, board, commission, institution, division, officer or other person, or functional group, heretofore existing or hereafter created, that is authorized to exercise, or that does exercise, any functions of the government of the state in the executive branch, but not any governing body or officer of any local government or subdivision of the state, or any parochial officer who exercises functions coterminous with the municipality in which he performs those functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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: means an authorization by the legislature to a budget unit for a program to expend from public funds a sum of money, for purposes designated, under the procedure prescribed in this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Board: means the board of commissioners of the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:3086.21
• Budget office: means the section of the division of administration which monitors budgeting functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Budget unit: means any spending agency of the state which is declared to be a budget unit by the division of administration and which is identified for accounting purposes by a five-digit number code. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Commission: means the Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:15.12
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consensus estimating conference: means the Economic Estimating Conference, the Demographic Estimating Conference, the Education Estimating Conference, the Criminal Justice Estimating Conference, the Health and Social Services Estimating Conference, and the Transportation Estimating Conference. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• Current tax collections: means the current collections of the taxes imposed by Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Deficit: means the excess for any fiscal year of actual expenditures paid by warrant or transfer over the actual monies received and any monies or balances carried forward for any fund at the close of the fiscal year as such are reported by the office of statewide reporting within the division of administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• District: means the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:3086.21
• Efficiency: means cost-effectiveness or productivity relative to achievement of an objective. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Evidence-based program: means a program or practice that has had multiple site random controlled trials across heterogeneous populations demonstrating that the program or practice is effective for the population. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive budget: means the document submitted to the legislature at each regular session, pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Existing operating budget: means the initial operating budget as adjusted for actions taken by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the Interim Emergency Board, the legislature, or the governor in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter or any other provision of law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Expenses: means amounts represented by cash paid out or by obligations to pay cash or partly by each for maintaining and operating government services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Functions: means duties, jurisdiction, powers, rights, and obligations, conferred or imposed upon, or vested in, any agency by law, or exercised, performed, or discharged by any agency without contravention of any provision of law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Fund: means an independent fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts recording cash or other resources together with all related liabilities, obligations, reserves, and equities which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with regulations, restrictions, and limitations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Goal: means a general purpose toward which the efforts of an agency are directed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Initial operating budget: means the amount of the appropriation on July first of a particular fiscal year for that fiscal year. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Input: means any resource used to implement a policy, program, or specific service. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Money available for appropriation: means the amount of money to be received for a fiscal year by the state general fund and dedicated funds, exclusive of federal funds and those amounts appropriated or allocated by the Constitution of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• 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.
• Nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget: shall mean and shall contain the following:

              (a) The budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2

• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Objective: is a specific and measurable target for achievement which describes the exact results sought, which is expressed in an outcome-oriented statement that may reflect effectiveness, efficiency, or quality of work, and which may be either numeric or non-numeric. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Official forecast: means the most recently adopted estimate of money available for appropriation by the Revenue Estimating Conference as provided in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Outcome: means evidence or demonstration of the actual impact or public benefit of a program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Output: means the quantity of actual service or product delivered by an agency or program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Performance indicator: means a statement identifying an activity, input, output, outcome, achievement, ratio, efficiency, or quality to be measured relative to a particular goal or objective in order to assess an agency's performance. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Program: means a grouping of activities directed toward the accomplishment of a clearly defined objective or set of objectives. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Promising practices: means a practice that presents, based upon preliminary information, potential for becoming a research-based or evidence-based program or practice. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Quality: means degree or grade of excellence. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State planning and budgeting system: refers to the processes and functions prescribed in Subtitle I of this Title. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Strategic planning: is a process of agency self-assessment and objective setting which considers an organization's purpose, capacities and environment, and results in a strategic plan which determines a path for development of the organization's resources in order to achieve meaningful results. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supporting document: means the document prepared by the budget office and composed of supporting information, data, and documentation used to develop the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Supporting objective: means an objective that is designated as such by the commissioner of administration and is included in the executive budget supporting document and not included in the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Supporting performance indicator: means a performance indicator which is designated as such by the commissioner of administration and is included in the executive budget supporting document and not included in the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Surplus: means the excess for any fiscal year of the actual monies received and any monies or balances carried forward over the actual expenditures paid by warrant or transfer for any fund at the close of the fiscal year as such are reported by the office of statewide reporting within the division of administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Watercraft: means anything used or designated for navigation on water. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:3086.21
• Waterway: means Bayou Lafourche or any navigable bayou or river, or portion thereof, located within the geographical boundaries of the district. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:3086.21
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.