Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 3.2 > Subtitle V > Chapter 59 - General Provisions

• Account: means any account with a savings institution and includes a checking, time, interest, or savings account. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Accredited veterinarian: means a veterinarian approved by the Administrator of the U. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• 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: shall be deemed to include without limitation any department, division, commission, association, board, or other administrative body established pursuant to the laws of a jurisdiction. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
• Aggrieved person: means a person who was a party to any intercepted wire, electronic or oral communication or a person against whom the interception was directed;

  "Aural transfer" means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception;

  "Communications common carrier" means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire in communication by wire or radio or in radio transmission of energy;

  "Contents" when used with respect to any wire, electronic or oral communication, includes any information concerning the substance, purport or meaning of that communication;

  "Electronic, mechanical or other device" means any device or apparatus that can be used to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication other than:

  (a) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or facility, or any component thereof, (i) furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by the subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course of the subscriber's or user's business; or (ii) being used by a communications common carrier in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law-enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties;

  (b) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better than normal;

  "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system. See Virginia Code 19.2-61

• 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.
• Animal: means any organism of the kingdom Animalia, other than a human being. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• 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.
• 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.
• Association: means a savings and loan association or building and loan association that is authorized by law to accept deposits and to hold itself out to the public as engaged in the savings and loan business. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of 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 Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board. See Virginia Code 2.2-2484
• Branch office: means an office of a savings institution where, in addition to conducting other business activities of the institution, the institution accepts deposits. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Certificate: means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner indicating that a regulated article is not contaminated with a pest. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contents: when used with respect to any wire, electronic or oral communication, includes any information concerning the substance, purport or meaning of that communication;

  "Electronic, mechanical or other device" means any device or apparatus that can be used to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication other than:

  (a) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or facility, or any component thereof, (i) furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by the subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course of the subscriber's or user's business; or (ii) being used by a communications common carrier in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law-enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties;

  (b) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better than normal;

  "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system. See Virginia Code 19.2-61

• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• court: shall be deemed to include the courts of this Commonwealth, any other person or body appointed by it or acting under its process or authority in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity, and any other judicial, quasi-judicial, or fact-finding body acting pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth, including without limitation, the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
• Court: means any court vested with appropriate jurisdiction under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deadly force: means any force that is likely or intended to cause serious bodily injury or death. See Virginia Code 19.2-83.3
• Deadly weapon: means any object, other than a body part or stationary object, that in the manner of its actual, attempted, or threatened use is likely to cause serious bodily injury or death. See Virginia Code 19.2-83.3
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electronic communication service: means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications;

  "Electronic communication system" means any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photooptical or photoelectronic facilities for the transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications;

  "Electronic storage" means any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof and any storage of such communication by an electronic communication service for purposes of backup protection of such communication;

  "Intercept" means any aural or other means of acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical or other device;

  "Investigative or law-enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States or of a state or political subdivision thereof, who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for offenses enumerated in this chapter, and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses;

  "Judge of competent jurisdiction" means a judge of any circuit court of the Commonwealth with general criminal jurisdiction;

  "Monitor" or "monitoring" means the actual auditory or visual acquisition of an intercepted communication by any means;

  "Oral communication" means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectations but does not include any electronic communication;

  "Pen register" means a device or process that records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted; however, such information shall not include the contents of any communication. See Virginia Code 19.2-61

• Entity: means any corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• Excessive force: means any force that is objectively unreasonable given the totality of the circumstances, including the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight. See Virginia Code 19.2-83.3
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• 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
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal financial institution: means a financial institution incorporated or organized in accordance with the laws of the United States. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Federal savings institution: means a savings institution incorporated or organized in accordance with the laws of the United States. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Financial institution: means any bank, trust company, savings institution, industrial loan association, consumer finance company, or credit union. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• 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.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• 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}
• Foreign savings institution: means a savings institution incorporated under the laws of a state other than the Commonwealth, the principal business office of which is located outside the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fund: means the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund. See Virginia Code 2.2-2484
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Home loan: means a real estate loan the security for which is a lien on real estate comprising a single-family dwelling or a dwelling unit for four or fewer families in the aggregate. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Host: means any plant or plant product upon which a pest is dependent for completion of any portion of its life cycle. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• 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 Chapter 42. See 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 actually infested or infected with a pest or so exposed to infestation that it would be reasonable to believe that an infestation exists. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• 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.
• Insured savings institution: means a savings institution whose accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or other federal insurance agency. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Kinetic impact munitions: includes impact rounds and baton rounds, such as rubber batons, bean bag rounds, foam baton rounds, and plastic, wax, wood, or rubber-coated projectiles. See Virginia Code 19.2-83.3
• 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.
• Liquid assets: means (i) cash on hand; (ii) cash on deposit in Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Reserve Banks, savings institutions, or in commercial banks that is withdrawable upon not more than 30 days' notice and that is not pledged as security for indebtedness; (iii) the liquid asset fund of the United States League of Saving Institutions; (iv) obligations of, or obligations that are fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by, the United States; or (v) any other asset that the Commissioner designates as a liquid asset. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Livestock: includes all domestic or domesticated bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Main office: means the office where a savings institution first commences to do business or, if the savings institution has more than one office, the office designated by the institution's board of directors as the institution's main office. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Member: includes such persons with a joint and survivorship or other multiple owner or borrower relationship, which persons shall constitute a single membership for purposes of this chapter. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Mistrial: An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mutual association: means an association that is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its members and that does not issue shares of capital stock. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Mutual savings institution: means a savings institution that is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its members and that does not issue shares of capital stock. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• 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}
• Neck restraint: means the use of any body part or object to attempt to control or disable a person by applying pressure against the neck, including the trachea or carotid artery, with the purpose, intent, or effect of controlling or restricting the person's movement or restricting the person's blood flow or breathing, including chokeholds, carotid restraints, and lateral vascular neck restraints. See Virginia Code 19.2-83.3
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• 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.
• 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.
• Passport: means a document that may be used in lieu of a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection and shall contain animal identifiers and health maintenance history such as vaccinations and laboratory tests. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Permit: means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner to provide for the movement of regulated articles to restricted destinations for limited handling, utilization, or processing. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• Person: means the term as defined in § 1-230. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

  6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Person: means any employee or agent of the Commonwealth or a political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust or corporation;

  "Readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not (i) scrambled or encrypted; (ii) transmitted using modulation techniques whose essential parameters have been withheld from the public with the intention of preserving the privacy of such communication; (iii) carried on a subcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a radio transmission; (iv) transmitted over a communication system provided by a communications common carrier, unless the communication is a tone-only paging system communication; or (v) transmitted on frequencies allocated under Part 25, subpart D, E, or F of Part 74, or Part 94 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission, unless, in the case of a communication transmitted on a frequency allocated under Part 74 that is not exclusively allocated to broadcast auxiliary services, the communication is a two-way voice communication by radio;

  "Remote computing service" means the provision to the public of computer storage or processing services by means of an electronic communications system;

  "Trap and trace device" means a device or process that captures the incoming electronic or other impulses that identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing and signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication; however, such information shall not include the contents of any communication;

  "User" means any person or entity who uses an electronic communication service and is duly authorized by the provider of such service to engage in such use;

  "Wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection, including the use of such connection in a switching station, furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of communications. See Virginia Code 19.2-61

• Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Personal estate: includes chattels real and such other estate as, upon the death of the owner intestate, would devolve upon his personal representative. See Virginia Code 1-233
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Pest: means an insect, disease, parasitic plant, or other organism of any character whatever, in any living stage, vertebrate or invertebrate, causing or capable of causing injury or damage to any plant or part thereof or any processed, manufactured, or other product of plants, or otherwise creating a public nuisance. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• 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.
• Poultry: includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• 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.
• Region: means one or more planning districts or otherwise defined areas designated as a region by the Board for the purpose of administering grants provided pursuant to this article. See Virginia Code 2.2-2484
• Regional activity: means an economic or workforce development-focused collaborative project or program that is (i) endorsed by a regional council, (ii) consistent with the economic growth and diversification plan developed by the regional council, and (iii) carried out, performed on behalf of, or contracted for by two or more localities, political subdivisions, or public bodies corporate and politic within a region. See Virginia Code 2.2-2484
• Regional council: means a public body certified by the Board as eligible to receive grants pursuant to this article and that is supported by or affiliated with an existing or newly established organization that engages in collaborative planning or execution of economic or workforce development activities within a region. See Virginia Code 2.2-2484
• Regulated article: means any article of any character carrying or capable of carrying the pest against which the quarantine is directed. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
• 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.
• required to be published pursuant to the laws thereof: includes being subject to disclosure under § 54. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
• Savings account: means an interest-bearing account not subject to withdrawal by check or other negotiable instrument. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Savings bank: means a savings institution specifically chartered under the laws of the Commonwealth, another state or a territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the United States as a savings bank. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Savings institution: means a savings and loan association, a building and loan association, or savings bank, whether organized as a capital stock corporation or a nonstock corporation, that is authorized by law to accept deposits and to hold itself out to the public as engaged in the savings institution business. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Savings institution holding company: means any person who, directly or indirectly, or acting in concert with one or more other companies or with one or more subsidiaries or affiliates, acquires, owns, controls or holds with power to vote 25 percent or more of the voting shares of a stock savings institution, or which controls in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of such institution. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Sheriff: shall include deputy sheriffs and such other persons designated in § 15. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
• State association: means an association incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• State bank: means a bank incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth and that has its principal business office in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• State savings bank: means a savings bank organized and incorporated under the provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• State savings institution: means a savings institution incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stock association: means an association that issues shares of capital stock. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Stock institution: means a savings institution that issues shares of capital stock. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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
• United States: shall be deemed to refer to the United States of America and to include any of its territories, commonwealths, insular possessions, the District of Columbia, and any of its other political subdivisions other than states. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Virginia savings institution: means a savings institution, including a state savings bank, that:

  1. See Virginia Code 6.2-1148

• Voir dire: The process by which judges and lawyers select a petit jury from among those eligible to serve, by questioning them to determine knowledge of the facts of the case and a willingness to decide the case only on the evidence presented in court. "Voir dire" is a phrase meaning "to speak the truth."
• Withdrawal value: means the amount credited to an account less lawful deductions therefrom, as shown by the records of the savings institution. See Virginia Code 6.2-1100
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.