Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 12 - Treasurer of State

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• advocate: means a person who is a member of the national guard or a branch of the armed forces of the United States and who has completed a military victim advocate course provided by a branch of the armed forces of the United States or by the United States department of defense. See Iowa Code 916.1
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Aggrieved person: means a person who was a party to an intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication or a person against whom the interception was directed. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• appellate court: means and includes both the supreme court and the court of appeals. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Applicant: means a person authorized to regularly lend moneys to be secured by a mortgage on real property in this state, a licensed real estate broker, a licensed attorney, a participating abstractor, or a licensed closing agent. See Iowa Code 16.92
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Authority: means a department, or public or quasi-public instrumentality of the state including but not limited to the authority created under chapter 12E, 16, 257C, or 261A, which has the power to issue obligations, except that "authority" does not include the state board of regents or the Iowa finance authority to the extent the Iowa finance authority acts pursuant to chapter 260C. See Iowa Code 12.30
• 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.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these 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}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Child: includes child by adoption. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• clerk: means clerk of the court in which the action or proceeding is brought or is pending; and the words "clerk's office" mean the office of that clerk. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Confidential communication: means confidential information shared between a victim and a military victim advocate within the advocacy relationship, and includes all information received by the advocate and any advice, report, or working paper given to or prepared by the advocate in the course of the advocacy relationship with the victim. See Iowa Code 916.1
• Contents: when used with respect to a wire, oral, or electronic communication, includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to the communication or the existence, substance, purpose, or meaning of that communication. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• conviction: includes a finding of guilt, a plea of guilty, deferred judgment, deferred or suspended sentence, adjudication of delinquency, or circumstances where a person is not charged with a criminal offense that is a serious or aggravated misdemeanor or felony related to the action for forfeiture based in whole or in part on the person's cooperation in providing information regarding the criminal activity of another person. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• 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.
• Court: means a district court in this state. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Criminal activities: means any crime for which there is a plea of guilty, verdict of guilty, or special verdict upon which a judgment of conviction is rendered and any other crime committed after July 1, 1982, which is admitted or not contested by the offender, whether or not prosecuted. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
• Deferred judgment: means a sentencing option whereby both the adjudication of guilt and the imposition of a sentence are deferred by the court and whereby the court assesses a civil penalty as provided in section 907. See Iowa Code 907.1
• Deferred sentence: means a sentencing option whereby the court enters an adjudication of guilt but does not impose a sentence. See Iowa Code 907.1
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division: means the Iowa title guaranty division in the authority, the director of the division, or a designee of the director. See Iowa Code 16.92
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electronic communication: means any transfer of signals, signs, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but excludes the following:
   a. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Eligible borrower: means any person who is qualified to participate in one of the programs in this section and sections 12. See Iowa Code 12.32
• Eligible lending institution: means a financial institution that is empowered to make commercial loans and is eligible pursuant to chapter 12C to be a depository of state funds. See Iowa Code 12.32
• Energy conservation measure: means installation or modification of an installation in a building which is primarily intended to reduce energy consumption or allow the use of an alternative energy source, which may contain integral control and measurement devices. See Iowa Code 7D.34
• 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.
• Expunged: means the court's criminal record with reference to a deferred judgment or any other criminal record that has been segregated in a secure area or database which is exempted from public access. See Iowa Code 907.1
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Financial affidavit: includes the offender's income, physical and mental health, age, education, employment, inheritance, other debts, other amounts of restitution owed, family circumstances, and any assets subject to execution, including but not limited to cash, accounts at financial institutions, stocks, bonds, and any other property which may be applied to the satisfaction of judgments. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Financing agreement: means any lease, lease-purchase agreement, or installment acquisition contract in which the lessee may purchase the leased property at a price which is less than the fair market value of the property at the end of the lease term, or any lease, agreement, or transaction which would be considered under criteria established by the internal revenue service to be a conditional sale agreement for tax purposes. See Iowa Code 12.28
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Instrumentality: means property otherwise lawful to possess that is used in or intended to be used in a public offense. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• interception: means the aural acquisition of the contents of a wire, oral, or electronic communication through the use of an electronic, mechanical, or other device. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Interest holder: means a secured party within the meaning of chapter 554, or the beneficiary of a security interest or encumbrance pertaining to an interest in property, whose interest is perfected against a good faith purchaser for value. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Investigative or law enforcement officer: means a peace officer of this state or one of its political subdivisions or of the United States who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for criminal offenses, the attorney general, or a county attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of criminal offenses. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Judicial officer: means a supreme court justice, a judge of the court of appeals, a district judge, a district associate judge, an associate juvenile judge, an associate probate judge, or a magistrate. See Iowa Code 4.1
• 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.
• 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}
• lessee: means a nonresident alien, foreign business, or foreign government, or an agent, trustee, or fiduciary acting on behalf of the nonresident alien, foreign business, or foreign government, or any other trade or business which is under the lessee's common control as provided in 26 U. See Iowa Code 9I.3
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Linked investment: means a certificate of deposit issued pursuant to this section and sections 12. See Iowa Code 12.32
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local anticrime organization: means an entity organized for the primary purpose of crime prevention which has been officially recognized by the chief of police of the city in which the organization is located or the sheriff of the county in which the organization is located. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Magistrate: means a judicial officer appointed under chapter 602, article 6, part 4. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Minimum civil forfeiture amount: means five thousand dollars. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" and the abbreviation "A. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• nontestimonial identification: includes , but is not limited to, identification by fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, measurements, hair strands, handwriting samples, voice samples, photographs, blood and saliva samples, ultraviolet or black-light examinations, paraffin tests, and lineups. See Iowa Code 810.1
• oath: includes affirmation in all cases where an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in like cases the word "swear" includes "affirm". See Iowa Code 4.1
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Obligations: means notes, bonds, including refunding bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness of an authority. See Iowa Code 12.30
• Omission: means the failure to perform an act that is required by law. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Oral communication: means an oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that the communication is not subject to interception, under circumstances justifying that expectation. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means a person, other than an interest holder, who has an interest in property. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• 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.
• pecuniary damages: includes damages for wrongful death and expenses incurred for psychiatric or psychological services or counseling or other counseling for the victim which became necessary as a direct result of the criminal activity. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Pen register: means a device or process which records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information, but not the contents of the communication, transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Permanent restitution order: means an enforceable restitution order entered either at the time of sentencing or at a later date determined by the court. See Iowa Code 910.1
• person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
• person: means a person on parole or a person who is no longer on parole but is currently unemployed or underemployed. See Iowa Code 906.19
• personal property: include money, goods, chattels, evidences of debt, and things in action. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan of restitution: means a permanent restitution order, restitution plan of payment, any other court order relating to restitution, or any combination of the foregoing. See Iowa Code 910.1
• 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.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Presentence report: A report prepared by a court's probation officer, after a person has been convicted of an offense, summarizing for the court the background information needed to determine the appropriate sentence. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• prior conviction: includes a plea of guilty, deferred judgment, deferred or suspended sentence, or adjudication of delinquency, regardless of whether a prior conviction occurred before, on, or after March 31, 2000. See Iowa Code 901A.1
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: means the procedure under which a defendant, against whom a judgment of conviction of a public offense has been or may be entered, is released by the court subject to supervision by a resident of this state or by the judicial district department of correctional services. See Iowa Code 907.1
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Proceeds: means property acquired directly or indirectly from, produced through, realized through, or caused by an act or omission and includes any property of any kind without reduction for expenses incurred for acquisition, maintenance, production, or any other purpose. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Property: means anything of value, and includes any interest in property, including any benefit, privilege, claim, or right with respect to anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Prosecuting attorney: means an attorney who is authorized by law to appear on the behalf of the state in a criminal case, and includes the attorney general, an assistant attorney general, the county attorney, an assistant county attorney, or a special or substitute prosecutor whose appearance is approved by a court having jurisdiction to try a defendant for the offense with which the defendant is charged. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• public funds: means public funds as defined in section 12C. See Iowa Code 12B.10C
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real property: include lands, tenements, hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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}
• Regulated interest holder: means an interest holder that is a business authorized to do business in this state and is under the jurisdiction of any state or federal agency regulating banking, insurance, real estate, or securities. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• restitution: means fines, penalties, and surcharges. See Iowa Code 910.1
• restitution plan of payment: means a plan for paying restitution wherein the defendant is ordered to pay a certain amount of money each month to repay outstanding restitution. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
• seal: shall include an impression upon the paper alone, or upon wax, a wafer affixed to the paper, or an official stamp of a notarial officer as provided in chapter 9B. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Seized property: means property taken or held by any law enforcement agency without the consent of the person, if any, who had possession or a right to possession of the property at the time it was taken into custody. See Iowa Code 809.1
• Seizing agency: means a department or agency of this state or its political subdivisions that regularly employs law enforcement officers, and that employs the law enforcement officer who seizes property for forfeiture, or such other agency as the department or agency may designate by its chief executive officer or the officer's designee. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Seizure for forfeiture: means seizure of property by a law enforcement officer, including a constructive seizure, accompanied by an assertion by the seizing agency or by a prosecuting attorney that the property is seized for forfeiture, in accordance with section 809A. See Iowa Code 809A.1
• Sentencing guidelines: A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• sexually predatory offense: means any serious or aggravated misdemeanor or felony which constitutes:
   a. See Iowa Code 901A.1
• sexually violent offense: means the same as defined in section 229A. See Iowa Code 901A.1
• Signature: includes an electronic signature as defined in section 554D. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Special state agent: means a sworn peace officer member of the department of public safety. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
• State agency: means a board, commission, bureau, division, office, department, or branch of state government. See Iowa Code 12.28
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Suspended sentence: means a sentencing option whereby the court pronounces judgment and imposes a sentence and then suspends execution of the sentence subject to the defendant's compliance with conditions set by the court as a requirement of the suspended sentence. See Iowa Code 907.1
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• 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.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trap and trace device: means a device or process which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but does not capture the contents of any communication. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• undertaking: means a promise or security in any form. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim: means a person who has suffered pecuniary damages as a result of the offender's criminal activities. See Iowa Code 910.1
• Victim: means a person who consults a military victim advocate for the purpose of securing advice, advocacy, counseling, or assistance concerning a mental, physical, or emotional condition caused by a sexual crime committed against the person. See Iowa Code 916.1
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
• Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
• week: means seven consecutive days. See Iowa Code 4.1
• 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 between the point of origin and the point of reception, 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 interstate or foreign communications or communications affecting interstate or foreign commerce. See Iowa Code 808B.1
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1