Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 2.2 > Subtitle I > Part A > Chapter 2 > Article 3 - Secretary of Commerce and Trade.

• Abused or neglected child: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Administrative act: includes an action, omission, decision, recommendation, practice, or other procedure of the Department, a local department, a children's residential facility, or a child-placing agency with respect to a particular child related to adoption, foster care, or protective services. See Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Affiliate: means any person or subsidiary thereof, who has, either directly or indirectly, actual or legal control over a distributor, whether by stock ownership or in any other manner. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Candidate species: means those species formally recommended by the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or other reliable data sources in writing to and accepted by the Commissioner for presentation to the Board for listing under this chapter. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• Certificate: means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner indicating that a regulated article is not contaminated with a noxious weed. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Child: means an individual under the age of 18. See Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Child-placing agency: means (i) any person who places children in foster homes, adoptive homes, or independent living arrangements pursuant to § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Child-serving agency: means (i) a state agency that provides services to children, including the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Social Services, and the Office of Children's Services, and (ii) a local entity that provides services to children and that receives funding from a state agency under clause (i). See Virginia Code 2.2-438
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Collegial body: means a governmental entity whose power or authority is vested within its membership. See Virginia Code 1-209
• Commission: means the Milk Commission. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Complainant: means an individual who makes a complaint pursuant to § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• 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.
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Department: means the Department of Social Services. See Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Distributor: means any of the following persons engaged in the business of distributing, marketing, or in any manner handling fluid milk, in whole or in part, in fluid form for consumption in the Commonwealth:

  1. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200

• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Endangered species: means any species or variety of plant life or insect life determined by the Board to be in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part of its range other than a species determined by the Commissioner not to be in the best interest of the welfare of man. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• 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.
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Farmer: means any person who derives at least 75 percent of his gross income from a farming operation in the Commonwealth as reported on his federal income tax forms the previous year, or a farmer who receives or is eligible to receive a federal loan and who owns or leases land that would be eligible for special tax assessments pursuant to Article 4 (§ Virginia Code 3.2-500
• 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.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Health authorities: include the Board of Health, the Office of Dairy and Foods in the Department, and the local health authorities. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• 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.
• Infested: means the establishment of a noxious weed or exposure to such weed, which would be reasonable cause to believe that establishment could occur. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• insect life: means any species of the class Insecta. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• 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.
• Law-enforcement agency: means any crime victim and witness assistance program whose funding is provided in whole or in part by grants administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services pursuant to § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Licensee: means a licensed milk distributor. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• 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.
• Local department: means the local department of social services of any county or city in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Major disaster: means any hurricane, flood, or drought that would warrant a disaster declaration request by the Governor pursuant to the provisions of Section 301 of Public Law 93-288, Virginia Code 3.2-500
• Market: means any locality, or two or more localities, and surrounding territory designated by the Commission as a marketing area. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• Milk: means the clean lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows properly fed, housed, and kept; including milk that is cooled, pasteurized, standardized, or otherwise processed with a view to selling. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Move: means to ship, offer for shipment, receive for transportation, carry, or otherwise transport, move, or allow to be moved, except for bona fide agricultural purposes including the management, tilling, planting, or harvesting of agricultural products. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Noxious weed: means any living plant, or part thereof, declared by the Board through regulations under this chapter to be detrimental to crops, surface waters, including lakes, or other desirable plants, livestock, land, or other property, or to be injurious to public health, the environment, or the economy, except when in-state production of such living plant, or part thereof, is commercially viable or such living plant is commercially propagated in Virginia. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Nuisance birds: means blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, pigeons, and starlings, or any other species so declared by regulations of the Board when causing or about to cause economic losses in the Commonwealth; becoming detrimental to the public health and welfare; defacing or defiling public or private property or otherwise creating a public nuisance. See Virginia Code 3.2-900
• Office: means the Office of the Children's Ombudsman established under § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• Ombudsman: means the individual appointed to head the Office of the Children's Ombudsman under § Virginia Code 2.2-438
• 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.
• Permit: means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner to provide for movement of regulated articles to restricted destinations for limited handling, utilization, processing, or for scientific purposes. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Person: means the term as defined in § 1-230. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Person: means the term as defined in § 1-230. See Virginia Code 3.2-900
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• plant life: means any member of the plant kingdom, including spores, leaves, stems, branches, flowers, seeds, roots, and other parts or products thereof. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• 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.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• 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.
• 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.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Producer: means any person, regardless of whether they are also a distributor, who produces milk for sale as fluid milk in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• Proposed species: means any candidate species authorized by the Board for consideration for listing as threatened or endangered under the provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quarantine: means a legal declaration by the Board that specifies: (i) the noxious weed; (ii) the articles to be regulated; (iii) conditions governing movement; and (iv) exemptions. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Regulated article: means any article of any character as described in this chapter or in the quarantine carrying or capable of carrying a noxious weed against which this chapter or the quarantine is directed. See Virginia Code 3.2-800
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Sanitary regulations: include all laws and ordinances relating to the production, handling, transportation, distribution, and sale of milk and, so far as applicable, regulations adopted by the Board or the health authorities. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• 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.
• Species: includes any species or variety of plant life or insects. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Subsidiary: means any person that a distributor or an affiliate of a distributor has, or several distributors collectively have, either directly or indirectly, actual or legal control, whether by stock ownership or in any other manner. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• Take: means , in reference to plants and insects, to collect, pick, cut, or dig up for the purpose of resale. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Threatened species: means any species determined by the Board to be likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its native range. See Virginia Code 3.2-1000
• 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.
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.