Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 20 > Article 1 - Organization and Administration

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• 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
• Citizen: means any native-born citizen of the United States and foreign-born persons who have procured their final naturalization papers. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Commission: means the Natural Resources Commission. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Director: means the Director of the Division of Natural Resources. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• 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.
• Fur-bearing animals: includes : (a) The mink. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Game: means game animals, game birds and game fish as herein defined. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Game animals: includes : (a) The elk. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Game birds: includes : (a) The anatidae, commonly known as swan, geese, brants and river and sea ducks. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Hunt: means to pursue, chase, catch or take any wild birds or wild animals. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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: means land, waters and all other appurtenances connected therewith. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Laws of the state: includes the Constitution of the State of West Virginia and the Constitution of the United States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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}
• Migratory birds: means any migratory game or nongame birds included in the terms of conventions between the United States and Great Britain and between the United States and United Mexican States, known as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, for the protection of migratory birds and game mammals concluded, respectively, August 16, 1916, and February 7, 1936. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Nonresident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has not been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days immediately prior to the date of his or her application for a license or permit except any full-time student of any college or university of this state, even though he or she is paying a nonresident tuition. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• oath: shall be deemed to include an affirmation and the word "swear" or "sworn" to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn affirmation. See West Virginia Code 2-2-7
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Open season: means the time during which the various species of wildlife may be legally caught, taken, killed or chased in a specified manner and shall include both the first and the last day of the season or period designated by the director. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• 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: except as otherwise defined elsewhere in this chapter, means the plural "persons" and shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or other legal entities. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Preserve: means all duly licensed private game farmlands, or private plants, ponds or areas, where hunting or fishing is permitted under special licenses or seasons other than the regular public hunting or fishing seasons. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• 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.
• Resident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days or more immediately prior to the date of his or her application for license or permit. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Take: means to hunt, shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, catch, capture, keep in captivity, gig, spear, trap, ensnare, wound or injure any wildlife, or attempt to do so. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Wild animals: means all mammals native to the State of West Virginia occurring either in a natural state or in captivity, except house mice or rats, and includes coyotes and porcupines and all species of cervids. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Wild birds: shall include all birds other than: (a) Domestic poultry &mdash. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
• Wildlife: means wild birds, wild animals, game and fur-bearing animals, fish (including minnows), reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans and all forms of aquatic life used as fish bait, whether dead or alive. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2