Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 5 > Chapter 12 > Article 1 - Organization

• Act: means a bodily movement. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Advisory board: means the advisory board of the authority. See Arizona Laws 5-1401
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Authority: means the southern Arizona sports, tourism and film authority. See Arizona Laws 5-1401
• 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 board of directors of the authority. See Arizona Laws 5-1401
• Calendar year: means three hundred sixty-five days' actual time served without release, suspension or commutation of sentence, probation, pardon or parole, work furlough or release from confinement on any other basis. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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.
• Community supervision: means that portion of a felony sentence that is imposed by the court pursuant to section 13-603, subsection I and that is served in the community after completing a period of imprisonment or served in prison in accordance with Section 41-1604. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying culpable mental state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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.
• Crime: means a misdemeanor or a felony. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• criminal offense: includes any of the following:

  (a) A felony or misdemeanor offense. See Arizona Laws 13-3841

• Criminal street gang: means an ongoing formal or informal association of persons in which members or associates individually or collectively engage in the commission, attempted commission, facilitation or solicitation of any felony act and that has at least one individual who is a criminal street gang member. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Criminal street gang member: means an individual to whom at least two of the following seven criteria that indicate criminal street gang membership apply:

  (a) Self-proclamation. See Arizona Laws 13-105

• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dangerous instrument: means anything that under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used or threatened to be used is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Deadly weapon: means anything designed for lethal use, including a firearm. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• escape: means :

  (i) A departure from custody or from a juvenile secure care facility, a juvenile detention facility or an adult correctional facility in which the person is held or detained, with knowledge that the departure is not allowed, or the failure to return to custody or detention following a temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or for a limited period. See Arizona Laws 13-105

• 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.
• Executive authority: includes the governor, and any person performing the functions of governor in a state other than this state. See Arizona Laws 13-3841
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Felony: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Government: means the state, any political subdivision of the state or any department, agency, board, commission, institution or governmental instrumentality of or within the state or political subdivision. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Governor: includes any person performing the functions of governor by authority of the law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-3841
• 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.
• 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.
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Indian tribe: means any organized Indian nation, tribe, band or community that is recognized as an Indian tribe by the United States department of the interior. See Arizona Laws 5-1401
• 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.
• 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.
• Knowingly: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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}
• Magistrate: means an officer having power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person charged with a public offense and includes the chief justice and justices of the supreme court, judges of the superior court, judges of the court of appeals, justices of the peace and judges of a municipal court. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Minor: means a person under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Misdemeanor: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment other than to the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Oath: includes an affirmation or declaration. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Omission: means the failure to perform an act as to which a duty of performance is imposed by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Peace officer: means any person vested by law with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests and includes a constable. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Peace officers: means sheriffs of counties, constables, marshals, policemen of cities and towns, commissioned personnel of the department of public safety, personnel who are employed by the state department of corrections and the department of juvenile corrections and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a multicounty water conservation district and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by community college district governing boards and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the Arizona board of regents and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the governing body of a public airport pursuant to section 28-8426 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a private postsecondary institution pursuant to section 15-1897 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board and special agents from the office of the attorney general, or of a county attorney, and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Petty offense: means an offense for which a sentence of a fine only is authorized by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Petty offense: A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Physical injury: means the impairment of physical condition. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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.
• Possess: means knowingly to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Possession: means a voluntary act if the defendant knowingly exercised dominion or control over property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• 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: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Property: means anything of value, tangible or intangible. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• public offense: means conduct for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment or of a fine is provided by any law of the state in which it occurred or by any law, regulation or ordinance of a political subdivision of that state and, if the act occurred in a state other than this state, it would be so punishable under the laws, regulations or ordinances of this state or of a political subdivision of this state if the act had occurred in this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• State: includes the District of Columbia. See Arizona Laws 13-3831
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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 District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Unlawful: means contrary to law or, where the context so requires, not allowed by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Vehicle: means a device in, upon or by which any person or property is, may be or could have been transported or drawn upon a highway, waterway or airway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Arizona Laws 13-105
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ: means an order or precept in writing issued in the name of the state or by a court or judicial officer. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215