Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 8 > Chapter 16 - Notaries Public

• 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.
• Age of majority: means eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Assessed value: means value as assessed for municipal property tax purposes. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Authorizer: means :
  (A) A local board of education, the Tennessee public charter school commission, or the achievement school district as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Charter agreement: means a fixed-term renewable agreement between a public charter school and the authorizer that outlines the rights, responsibilities, and performance expectations of each party. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
• 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
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consortium: means the consortium for cooperative innovative education created under §. See Tennessee Code 49-15-102
• 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.
• Council: means the twelve-member energy efficient schools council created by this chapter. See Tennessee Code 49-17-102
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County or municipality: includes any county or incorporated city or town of this state. See Tennessee Code 68-11-602
• Credential analysis: means a process or service operating as outlined in rules promulgated by the secretary of state, through which a third person affirms the validity of a government-issued identification credential through review of public and proprietary data sources. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Custodian: means and includes the medical record practitioner and the administrator or other chief officer of a duly licensed hospital in this state and its proprietor, the appropriately designated person of a community mental health center, as well as their deputies and assistants, and any other persons who are official custodians or depositories of records. See Tennessee Code 68-11-401
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• 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.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• District: means the central business district created by ordinance or resolution by a municipality, or a corridor of central business districts created by joint agreement of two (2) or more municipalities. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Electronic document: means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Electronic notarial certificate: means the portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by an online notary public and contains the following:
  (A) The online notary public's electronic signature, electronic seal, title, and commission expiration date. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Electronic seal: means information within a notarized electronic document that confirms the online notary public's name, jurisdiction, identifying number, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to information in notary seals used on paper documents. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Electronic signature: means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic document. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• 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
• Energy audit: means any professional energy audit used to determine the energy efficiency of a structure that is performed by an energy auditor. See Tennessee Code 49-17-102
• Energy auditor: means any person approved to perform professional energy audits. See Tennessee Code 49-17-102
• Equipment: includes , but is not limited to, X-ray machines, dental chairs, dental drills, autoclaves, refractometers, examining tables, dialysis equipment and all other equipment and instruments used and useful in the practice of medicine and dentistry. See Tennessee Code 68-11-602
• 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}
• 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.
• 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.
• Governing body: includes the body or board by whatever name it may be known, charged with the governing of a municipality. See Tennessee Code 68-11-602
• Governing body: means the council or commission or other municipal body exercising general legislative power in the municipality or any county legislative body. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
• 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.
• Identity proofing: means a process or service operating according to criteria as outlined in rules promulgated by the secretary of state, through which a third person affirms the identity of an individual through review of personal information in public and proprietary data sources. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• 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.
• Medical arts building: means any building or buildings, including the site of the building or buildings, providing space suitable for the use of physicians or dentists, or both, as office space, emergency treatment rooms, laboratories, examining rooms, therapy rooms or other uses in connection with the practice of medicine or dentistry and the provision of health care, but does not include hospital facilities or overnight or extended care facilities. See Tennessee Code 68-11-602
• 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
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: means any incorporated city, town, metropolitan government, or county of this state exercising general governmental functions in the state. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Notarial act: means the performance by an online notary public of a function authorized under §. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• 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.
• Office of postsecondary coordination and alignment: means the office of postsecondary coordination and alignment in the division of career and technical education in the department of education. See Tennessee Code 49-15-102
• Online notarization: means a notarial act performed by means of two-way video and audio conference technology that meets the standards adopted under §. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Online notary public: means a notary public who is a commissioned notary public and has been additionally commissioned to perform online notarizations as outlined in this part. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Owner: means record owner in fee. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
• 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.
• Payback period: means the time within which the cost savings realized by incorporating energy efficient technologies equals the initial cost of the technology employed. See Tennessee Code 49-17-102
• Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, business, trust, unincorporated organization, association or joint stock company. See Tennessee Code 28-3-201
• 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.
• Personal 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
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Principal: means an individual:
  (A) Whose electronic signature is notarized in an online notarization. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public charter school: means a public school in this state that is established and operating under the terms of a charter agreement and in accordance with this chapter. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
• 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
• records: includes those records identified in §. See Tennessee Code 68-11-401
• Remote presentation: means transmission to the online notary public through communication technology of an image of a government-issued identification credential that is of sufficient quality to enable the online notary public to:
  (A) Identify the individual seeking the online notary public's services. See Tennessee Code 8-16-302
• 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
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Savings and loan association: includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the [former] federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor [repealed] of such corporation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Substantial completion: means that degree of completion of a project, improvement, or a specified area or portion thereof (in accordance with the contract documents, as modified by any change orders agreed to by the parties) upon attainment of which the owner can use the same for the purpose for which it was intended. See Tennessee Code 28-3-201
• Sustainable building design: means designing facilities using a strategy that takes into account approaches that benefit the environment and quality of life of a community. See Tennessee Code 49-17-102
• 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.
• Underutilized or vacant property: means an entire property or portion thereof, with or without improvements, which is not used or is used irregularly or intermittently by the LEA for instructional or program purposes. See Tennessee Code 49-13-104
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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