Terms Used In California Codes > Government Code > Title 7 > Division 2 > Chapter 1 - General Provisions and Definitions

• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• charity: shall include any person who, or any nonprofit community organization, fraternal, benevolent, educational, philanthropic, or service organization, or governmental employee organization which, solicits or obtains contributions solicited from the public for charitable purposes or holds any assets for charitable purposes. See California Business and Professions Code 17510.2
• City: includes city and county. See California Business and Professions Code 18
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Human Resources. See California Government Code 19815
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Human Resources. See California Government Code 19815
• Division: means the Division of Labor Relations. See California Government Code 19815
• Elections official: means any of the following:

  California Elections Code 320

• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Federal election: means any presidential election, general election, primary election, or special election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting, nominating, or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, or Member of the United States House of Representatives. See California Elections Code 323
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Local election: is a municipal, county, or district election. See California Elections Code 328
• 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.
• Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
• person: includes any individual, partnership, firm, association, or corporation. See California Business and Professions Code 17506
• 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.
• Polling place: means a location where a voter casts a ballot and includes the following terms, as applicable: poll, polling location, and vote center. See California Elections Code 338.5
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Precinct: means a geographical area within a county that is made up of voters and is formed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12200) of Division 12. See California Elections Code 338.6
• precinct board: means the board appointed by the elections official to serve at a vote center. See California Elections Code 339
• Precinct board member: is a member of the precinct board and includes an election officer. See California Elections Code 339
• Roster: means the official list of voters for an election, which may be in paper or electronic form. See California Elections Code 349.5
• sale: shall include a gift made with the hope or expectation of monetary compensation. See California Business and Professions Code 17510.1
• 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.
• solicitation for charitable purposes: means any request, plea, entreaty, demand, or invitation, or attempt thereof, to give money or property, in connection with which any of the following applies:

  California Business and Professions Code 17510.2

• state agency: includes every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission. See California Government Code 11000
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Vote center: means a location established for holding elections that offers the services described in Sections 2170 and 4005. See California Elections Code 357.5
• Voting machine: means any electronic device, including, but not limited to, a precinct optical scanner and a direct recording voting system, into which a voter may enter his or her votes, and which, by means of electronic tabulation and generation of printouts or other tangible, human-readable records, furnishes a total of the number of votes cast for each candidate and for or against each measure. See California Elections Code 361
• Voting system: means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software, or any combination of these used for casting a ballot, tabulating votes, or both. See California Elections Code 362