Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 26 > Chapter 9 - Telegraph, Telephone and Electric Utility Corporations

• agency: means any state office, officer, official, department, board, commission, institution, bureau, agency, division or unit of the State, including those within the legislative and judicial branches of state government. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6002
• Agency: means any regulatory, administrative, advisory, executive, or legislative body of this State, including a board, bureau, commission, department, division, committee, council, association, authority, or any other entity established by an act of the General Assembly of this State that meets any of the following:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 10201

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: shall mean the Plans Management Board pursuant to § 2722 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6052
• Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• Carrier: shall mean any person or entity offering to the public telecommunications service that originates or terminates within the State; provided, however, that the term "carrier" shall not include:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923

• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Change order: shall mean any order changing a customer's designated carrier for local exchange service, intraLATA intrastate toll service or both. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Commission: shall mean the Delaware Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• 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.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contribution: means any cash, property, services rendered or a promissory note or other obligation to contribute cash or property or to perform services, which a partner contributes to a limited partnership in the capacity as a partner. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• 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.
• Customer: shall mean a person who subscribes to local exchange services, intraLATA intrastate toll service or both. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• Deferred compensation: means income earned as a public officer or employee of the State which, pursuant to a written agreement between the State and the employee, is set aside for retirement purposes. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6052
• Deferred compensation program: means such plans to allow deferred compensation pursuant to §§ 457, 403(b) and 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6052
• Disaster: means any disaster designated at Level III or higher in the American National Red Cross Regulations and Procedures, including both national and state disasters. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6002
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Employee: includes an officer of a state or political subdivision thereof. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• employee: includes employees of the Delaware Transit Corporation and Delaware Solid Waste Authority. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6052
• employee tax: means the tax imposed by § 1400 of such Code of 1939 and § 3101 of such Code of 1954 [26 U. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• Employment: means any service performed by an employee in the employ of the State, local government, housing authority or any other political subdivision thereof, for such employer, except (i) service which in the absence of an agreement entered into under this chapter would constitute "employment" as defined in the Social Security Act [42 U. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executing carrier: shall mean a carrier that effects a request that a customer's carrier be changed. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Federal Insurance Contributions Act: means subchapter A of Chapter 9 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1939 and subchapters A and B of Chapter 21 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954 [26 U. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• Federal Security Administrator: includes any individual to whom the Federal Security Administrator has delegated any of the Administrator's functions under the Social Security Act [42 U. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• 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}
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Highest administrative officer: means an official who is appointed by the Governor as a member of the Governor's cabinet. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 10201
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Knowledge: means a person's actual knowledge of a fact, rather than the person's constructive knowledge of the fact. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• 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).
• Letter of agency: shall mean a separate document, or easily separable document, signed and dated by the customer or prospective customer, the sole purpose of which is to authorize a carrier to initiate a preferred carrier change. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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.
• Performance evaluation: means an assessment of how well an agency has performed and is performing its functions, and how well the agency has served and is serving the public need. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 10201
• Person: means a natural person, partnership (whether general or limited), limited liability company, trust (including a common law trust, business trust, statutory trust, voting trust or any other form of trust), estate, association (including any group, organization, co-tenancy, plan, board, council or committee), corporation, government (including a country, state, county or any other governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality), custodian, nominee or any other individual or entity (or series thereof) in its own or any representative capacity, in each case, whether domestic or foreign. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Political subdivisions: includes an instrumentality of a state and 1 or more of its political subdivisions, but only if such instrumentality is a juristic entity which is legally separate and distinct from the State or subdivision and only if its employees are not by virtue of their relation to such juristic entity employees of the State or subdivision; the housing authority continued under Chapter 43 of Title 31 shall be construed to be a political subdivision. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• 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.
• Preferred carrier: shall mean any carrier providing service to a customer at the time this subchapter is enacted, or such carrier as the customer thereafter designates as the customer's preferred carrier. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• 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.
• Public utility: includes every individual, partnership, association, corporation, joint stock company, agency or department of the State or any association of individuals engaged in the prosecution in common of a productive enterprise (commonly called a "cooperative"), their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that now operates or hereafter may operate for public use within this State, (however, electric cooperatives shall not be permitted directly or through an affiliate to engage in the production, sale or distribution of propane gas or heating oil), any natural gas, electric (excluding electric suppliers as defined in § 1001 of this title), electric transmission by other than a public utility over which the Commission has no supervisory or regulatory jurisdiction pursuant to § 202(a) or (g) of this title, water, wastewater (which shall include sanitary sewer charge), telecommunications (excluding telephone services provided by cellular technology or by domestic public land mobile radio service) service, system, plant or equipment. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• Social Security Act: means the act of Congress approved August 14, 1935, Chapter 531, 49 Stat. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• State Agency: means the State Treasurer. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Submitting carrier: shall mean any carrier that requests on behalf of a customer that the customer's carrier be changed, and seeks to provide retail services to an end user customer. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 923
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• system: shall mean a facility within this State which is constructed in whole or in part in, on, under or over any highway, road, street, alley, or other public place and which is operated to perform the service of receiving and amplifying the signals of 1 or more radio and/or television broadcasting stations and distributing such signals by cable, wire or other means to members of the public who subscribe to such service; provided that nothing herein is intended to prohibit any system from engaging in any other activity not expressly prohibited by law; except that such definition shall not include (i) any system which serves fewer than 50 subscribers; or (ii) any system which serves only the residents of 1 or more apartment dwellings or mobile home or trailer parks under common ownership, control or management, and commercial establishments located on the premises of such dwellings; or (iii) telephone, telegraph or electric utilities in those cases where the activity of such utility in connection with a cable system is limited to leasing or renting to cable systems, cables, wires, poles, towers or other electronic equipment or rights to use real property as part of, or for use in connection with, the operation of a cable system. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• volunteer: means any person who has completed the necessary training for and been certified as a disaster service specialist by the American Red Cross. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 6002
• Wages: means all remuneration for employment as defined in this section, including the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash, except that such term shall not include that part of such remuneration which, even if it were for "employment" within the meaning of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, would not constitute "wages" within the meaning of such Act. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 5701
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.