Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 68 > Safety > Chapter 102 > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member, together with any amount transferred to the account of the member established pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Age of majority: means eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Agriculture: means :
  (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• 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.
• Attorney general: means the attorney general and reporter and any assistant thereto by whatever name known, any district attorney general and any assistant thereto by whatever name called, and any officer or full-time employee of the general assembly or any committee thereof established by statute, who is duly licensed to practice law in Tennessee, whose duty it is to provide facilities for drafting bills or to assist individual legislators in drafting bills or who renders legal advice and services to the members of the general assembly or committees thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Average final compensation: means the average annual earnable compensation of a member during the five (5) consecutive years of the member's creditable service affording the highest such average, or during all of the years in the member's creditable service if less than five (5) years. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commissioner: means any person in office as a member of the public service commission, as prescribed by title 65, chapter 1, prior to June 30, 1996. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• County official: means a county clerk, a clerk of a circuit court, a criminal court, or a probate court, a clerk and master of a chancery court, a clerk of a general sessions court where such general sessions court has an independent clerk who serves such court only, a register of deeds, a county trustee, a sheriff, a county road superintendent elected by a county legislative body, by a county road commission or commissioners, or by popular vote, and an assessor of property, any county commissioner elected by popular vote, serving in a county having a county commission form of government. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defective condition: means a condition of a product that renders it unsafe for normal or anticipatable handling and consumption. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Earnable compensation: includes , but is not limited to, any bonus or incentive payment. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Employer: means :
  (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• 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.
• General employee: means any person who is a state official, including legislative officials elected by the general assembly, or who is employed in the service of, and whose compensation is payable in whole or in part by, the state, including employees under supervision of the state whose compensation is paid, in whole or in part, from federal or other funds, or any person in the employ of a political subdivision participating under chapter 35, part 2 of this title, or of the Tennessee County Services Association, but does not include any teacher, state police officer, wildlife officer, firefighter, police officer, state judge, county judge, attorney general, governor, or county official or public service commissioner, or any person performing services on a contractual or percentage basis. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, codified in United States Code, title 26, as amended. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Manufacturer: means the designer, fabricator, producer, compounder, processor or assembler of any product or its component parts. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Medical advisors: means the physicians, companies, or organizations provided for in part 4 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Membership service: means service rendered while a member of the retirement system. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Part-time employee: includes any interim teacher who is employed on a temporary basis to teach for a regular teacher who is on unpaid leave. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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 a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan year: means the fiscal year commencing July 1. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Product: means any tangible object or goods produced. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Product liability action: includes , but is not limited to, all actions based upon the following theories: strict liability in tort. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public school: means any school conducted within the state under the authority and supervision of a duly elected or appointed city or county school board, and any educational institution supported by and under the control of the state. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Regular interest: means interest at such rate or rates compounded annually as may be set from time to time by the board of trustees in accordance with §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Seller: includes a retailer, wholesaler, or distributor, and means any individual or entity engaged in the business of selling a product, whether such sale is for resale, or for use or consumption. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State judge: means any person in office as a judge of a court of record in this state, whose salary for the judge's judicial position has been paid during the period of the judge's service wholly from the treasury of the state, including the administrative director of the courts. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superseded system: means , where applicable, the Tennessee state retirement system, the Tennessee teachers' retirement system, the Tennessee judges' retirement system, the retirement system for county paid judges of Tennessee, the attorneys general retirement system of Tennessee, the public service commissioners' retirement system, and the Tennessee retirement system for county officials, any one (1) of them, or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Unreasonably dangerous: means that a product is dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics, or that the product because of its dangerous condition would not be put on the market by a reasonably prudent manufacturer or seller, assuming that the manufacturer or seller knew of its dangerous condition. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105