Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 33 > Chapter 3 > Part V - Municipal Officers

• Addictive disorder: is a primary, chronic neurobiologic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• administrator: means a person in charge of a treatment facility or his deputy. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• 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.
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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.
• Behavioral health: is a term used to refer to both mental health and substance use. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Board of trustees: means and includes the members of the board of trustees of the retirement system. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:951.1
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• 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.
• Client: refers to a recipient of services who has been charged with or convicted of a crime and who requires special protection and restraint in a forensic treatment facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conditional discharge: means the physical release of a judicially committed person from a treatment facility by the director or administrator or by the court. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• 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.
• Court: means any duly constituted district court or court having family or juvenile jurisdiction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dangerous to others: means the condition of a person whose behavior or significant threats support a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical harm upon another person in the near future. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Dangerous to self: means the condition of a person whose behavior, significant threats or inaction supports a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical or sever emotional harm upon his own person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Louisiana Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:32
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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.
• Diagnosis: means the art and science of determining the presence of disease in an individual and distinguishing one disease from another. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Discharge: means the full or conditional release from a treatment facility of any person admitted or otherwise detained under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Employee: means any person regularly employed in any capacity under the control of the Orleans Parish School Board who is not a teacher or whose legal employment does not require the holding of a teacher's certificate, including employees of the public school lunch department, all skilled and unskilled employees of the maintenance department, managers, custodians, subcustodians, and others who are not temporarily employed, and are paid out of funds under the control of the Orleans Parish School Board, who are not now eligible for membership in any other retirement system created or established by the State of Louisiana or any of its political subdivisions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:951.1
• Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Forensic clients: means persons transitioned from a forensic facility established pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:32
• Forensic supervised transitional residential and aftercare facility: means an agency, business, institution, society, corporation, person or persons, or any other group, licensed by the department to provide supervised transitional residential and aftercare services to forensic clients including persons in court-ordered conditional release status. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:32
• Formal voluntary admission: means the admission of a person suffering from mental illness or a substance-related or addictive disorder desiring admission to a treatment facility for diagnosis or treatment of such condition who may be formally admitted upon his written request. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Governmental entity: means any board, authority, commission, department, office, division, or agency of the state or any of its local political subdivisions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:2402
• Gravely disabled: means the condition of a person who is unable to provide for his own basic physical needs, such as essential food, clothing, medical care, or shelter, as a result of serious mental illness or a substance-related or addictive disorder and is unable to survive safely in freedom or protect himself from serious physical harm or significant psychiatric deterioration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• 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.
• In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Law enforcement training course: means a basic or advanced course of study certified by the council on peace officer standards and training, for the purpose of educating and training persons in the skills and techniques required of a peace officer in the discharge of his duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:2402
• 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}
• Legal guardian: means a person judicially or statutorily designated with the duty and authority to make decisions in matters having a permanent effect on the life and development of the individual on whose behalf the guardianship is established. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Major surgical procedure: means an invasive procedure of a serious nature with incision upon the body or parts thereof under general, local, or spinal anesthesia, utilizing surgical instruments, for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of a medical condition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Medical psychologist: means a psychologist who has undergone specialized training in clinical psychopharmacology and has passed a national proficiency examination in psychopharmacology approved by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and who holds a current and valid license from the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Mental health advocacy service: means a service established by the state of Louisiana for the purpose of providing legal counsel and representation for persons with mental illness or substance-related or addictive disorders and for ensuring that the legal rights of those persons are protected. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• 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.
• Parent: means a person who is the biological mother or father of an individual or the legally adoptive mother or father of an individual. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Participant: means any employee who is entitled to the beneficial provisions of this retirement system. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:951.1
• 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.
• Patient: means any person detained and taken care of as a person who has a mental illness or person who is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Peace officer: means any employee of the state, a municipality, a sheriff, or other public agency, whose permanent duties actually include the making of arrests, the performing of searches and seizures, or the execution of criminal warrants, and is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime or for the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state, but not including any elected or appointed head of a law enforcement department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:2402
• Peace officer: means any sheriff, police officer, or other person deputized by proper authority to serve as a peace officer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Person of legal age: means any person eighteen years of age or older. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Person who has a mental illness: means any person with a psychiatric disorder which has substantial adverse effects on his ability to function and who requires care and treatment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Petition: means a written civil complaint filed by a person of legal age alleging that a person has a mental illness or is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and requires judicial commitment to a treatment facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners in active practice or an individual in a post-graduate medical training program of an accredited medical school in Louisiana or a medical officer similarly qualified by the government of the United States while in the state in the performance of his official duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• 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.
• 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.
• Primary care provider: means the principal, treating health care professional, excluding a physician, or psychiatrist, rendering mental health care services to a person including a psychologist, medical psychologist, or psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Prior service: means service rendered by an employee prior to the effective date of the establishment of this retirement system for which credit is allowable as provided in this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:951.1
• 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.
• Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner: means an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice as a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, in accordance with the provisions of La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Psychiatrist: means a physician who has at least three years of formal training or primary experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Psychologist: means an individual licensed to practice psychology in Louisiana in accordance with La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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}
• 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.
• 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).
• Respondent: means a person alleged to have a mental illness or be suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and for whom an application for commitment to a treatment facility has been filed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Restraint: means the partial or total immobilization of any or all of the extremities or the torso by mechanical means for psychiatric indications. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Retirement: means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance allowable under the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:951.1
• Seclusion: means the involuntary confinement of a patient alone in a room where the patient is physically prevented from leaving for any period of time, except that seclusion does not include the placement of a patient alone in a room or other area for no more than thirty minutes at a time and no more than three hours in any twenty-four-hour period pursuant to behavior-shaping techniques, such as "time-out". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• State psychiatric hospital: means a public, state-owned and operated inpatient facility for the treatment of mental illness and substance-related and addictive disorders. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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.
• Training center: means any school, academy, institute, or any place of learning whatsoever, which offers or conducts a law enforcement training course. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:2402
• 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.
• Transfer: means the removal of a patient from one mental institution to another without any procedure for admission other than is prescribed by the department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Treatment: means an active effort to accomplish an improvement in the mental condition or behavior of a patient or to prevent deterioration in his condition or behavior. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Treatment facility: includes but is not limited to the following, and shall be selected with consideration of first, medical suitability; second, least restriction of the person's liberty; third, nearness to the patient's usual residence; fourth, financial or other status of the patient; and fifth, patient's expressed preference, except that such considerations shall not apply to forensic facilities:

              (i) Public and private behavioral health services providers licensed pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2

• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.