Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 18 > Part VI > Subpart A - In General

• Accrued liability: shall mean the entry age normal accrued liability. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Accumulated contributions: shall mean the sum of all the amounts deducted from the earnable compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the annuity savings fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Actuarial assumptions: shall mean the calculations used by an actuary engaged annually by the board to calculate the amounts necessary to fund the members' annuities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Actuarial equivalent: shall mean the amount required to fund the member's annuity based upon the calculations of the actuary on the basis of mortality tables approved by the board of trustees and regular interest at a rate fixed by the board of trustees. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Aggrieved person: means a person who was party to any intercepted wire or oral communication or a person against whom the interception was directed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity reserve: shall mean the present value of all payments to be made on account of any annuity, or benefit in lieu of any annuity, computed upon the basis of such mortality tables as shall be adopted by the board of trustees, and regular interest. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• articles of incorporation: as used in this Part shall be deemed to include the articles of conversion of a converted corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:416
• articles of incorporation: as used in this Chapter shall be deemed to include the articles of conversion of a converted corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:2817
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Association: means an association organized under this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:443
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Aural transfer: means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Average final compensation: shall mean the average annual earned compensation of an employee for any period of thirty-six successive or joined months of service as an employee during which the said earned compensation was the highest. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Beneficiary: shall mean any natural or juridical person or estate administrator designated to receive a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance, or other benefit as provided by this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Board: means the Prison Enterprises Board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1151
• Board of trustees: shall mean the board provided for in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Broadband affiliate: means any entity that meets all of the following criteria:

              (a) Is wholly or partially owned by a cooperative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1

• Broadband operator: means a broadband service provider that owns or operates a broadband system on a cooperative's electric delivery system with the cooperative's consent. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1
• Broadband service provider: means an entity that provides broadband services to another on a wholesale basis or to an end-use customer on a retail basis. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1
• Broadband services: means any service, using any equipment or technology, including wireline or fixed wireless broadband internet service, that consists of or includes the provision of or connectivity to a high-speed, high-capacity transmission medium meeting the Federal Communications Commission's benchmark of at least twenty-five megabits per second download and three megabits per second upload, or any subsequent benchmark determined by the Federal Communications Commission, that can carry signals from or to multiple sources and that does either of the following:

              (a) Is used to provide access to the internet. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1

• Broadband system: means a facility used to deliver broadband internet access service as defined in 47 C. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1
• Cellular tracking device: means a device that transmits or receives radio waves to or from a communications device in a manner that interferes with the normal functioning of the communications device or communications network and that can be used to intercept, collect, access, transfer, or forward the data transmitted or received by the communications device, or stored on the communications device; includes an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher or other cell phone or telephone surveillance or eavesdropping device that mimics a cellular base station and transmits radio waves that cause cell phones or other communications devices in the area to transmit or receive radio waves, electronic data, location data, information used to calculate location, identifying information, communications content, or metadata, or otherwise obtains this information through passive means, such as through the use of a digital analyzer or other passive interception device; and does not include any device used or installed by an electric utility solely to the extent such device is used by that utility to measure electrical usage, to provide services to customers, or to operate the electric grid. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Certification: means a certificate or certification received from an industry recognized organization or a Work Ready Certificate from the Louisiana Workforce Commission or a competency certification developed by the department. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• 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.
• communication by wire: means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities used for the transmission of communications by aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the points of origin and reception, including the use of such connection in a switching station, furnished or operated by any person licensed to engage in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of communications and such term includes any electronic storage of such communication, and such term includes the radio portion of a cordless, portable, or cellular telephone communication that is transmitted between the cordless, portable, or cellular handset and the base or transmitting tower or unit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Communications common carrier: means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire in communication by wire, radio, or electronic communications; however, a person engaged in commercial radio broadcasting which is supervised by the Federal Communications Commission shall not, insofar as such person is so engaged, be deemed a common carrier. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• communications device: means any type of instrument, device, or machine that is capable of transmitting or receiving telephonic, electronic, radio, text, or data communications, including but not limited to a cellular telephone, a text-messaging device, a personal digital assistant, a computer, or any other similar wireless device that is designed to engage in a call or communicate text or data. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contents: when used with respect to any wire, electronic, or oral communication includes any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Cooperative: means a corporation organized under this Part and a corporation which becomes subject to this Part in the manner hereinafter provided. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:402
• Cooperative: means a corporation organized under this Chapter and a corporation which becomes subject to this Chapter in the manner provided in this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:2803
• 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.
• Council: means the Reentry Advisory Council. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Court of competent jurisdiction: means state district courts of general criminal jurisdiction and those courts exercising appellate jurisdiction thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Craft: means an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity, specified training, and certification or licensing. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Creditable service: shall mean service for which credit is allowable as provided in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1151
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: shall mean the executive director of the Firefighters' Retirement System. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• 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:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Earnable compensation: shall mean the full amount of compensation earned by an employee on a regular tour of duty, including supplemental pay paid by the state of Louisiana, educational incentive pay, holiday pay, seniority incentive pay, and pay to an employee acting in a civil service classification higher than the one he holds, but shall not include overtime. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Electric delivery system: means the poles, lines, materials, equipment, servitudes, and other facilities or properties used by a cooperative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:430.1
• Electronic communication: means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system, but does not include any of the following:

              (i) Any oral communication. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302

• Electronic communications service: means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Employee: shall mean any full-time firefighter or any person in a position as defined in the municipal fire and police civil service system who is employed by a fire department of any municipality, parish, or fire protection district of the state of Louisiana, excepting Orleans and Lafayette Parishes, and who is earning at least three hundred seventy-five dollars per month excluding state supplemental pay. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Employer: shall mean any municipality, parish, or fire protection district in the state of Louisiana, excepting Orleans and Lafayette Parishes, which employs a full-time fireman, and the Firefighters' Retirement System. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• 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.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Intercept: means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• 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}
• Investigative or law enforcement officer: means any commissioned state police officer of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections who, in the normal course of his law enforcement duties, is investigating an offense enumerated in this Chapter, and the district attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offense. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Judge: means the senior judge of a judicial district court of the state, any judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, or a judge designated by a majority vote of the court in writing in advance to consider applications for warrants or orders under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Livestock: means cattle, buffalo, bison, oxen, and other bovine; horses, mules, donkeys, and other equine; sheep; goats; swine; domestic rabbits; fish, turtles, and other animals identified with aquaculture that are located in artificial reservoirs or enclosures that are both on privately owned property and constructed so as to prevent, at all times, the ingress and egress of fish life from public waters; imported exotic deer and antelope, elk, farm-raised white-tailed deer, farm-raised ratites, and other farm-raised exotic animals; chickens, turkeys, and other poultry; and animals placed under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of agriculture and forestry and any hybrid, mixture, or mutation of any such animal. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:2802
• Manager of livestock: means any person other than an owner of livestock having the care and control of livestock. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:2802
• Member: shall include any employee, as defined in Paragraph (10) of this Section, included in the membership of this system as provided in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Member: means each incorporator of a cooperative and each person admitted to and retaining membership therein, and shall include a husband and wife admitted to joint membership. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:402
• Member: means an actual member of an association without capital stock and the holder of common stock in an association organized with capital stock. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:443
• Member: means each incorporator of a cooperative and each person admitted to and retaining membership therein, and shall include a husband and wife admitted to joint membership. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:2803
• Merger: means a business combination pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1-1101
• 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.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Oral communication: means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation, but such term does not include any electronic communication. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Overtime: shall mean the additional hours worked above the regular tour of duty required by the local governing authority for which the member works and the compensation therefor. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Owner of livestock: means any person owning livestock. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:2802
• 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.
• party to a share exchange: means any domestic or foreign corporation or eligible entity that will do any of the following:

  (1)  Merge under a plan of merger. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1-1101

• Pen register: means a device which records and decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted, if the information does not include the contents of the communication. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Person: includes any natural person, firm, association, corporation, business trust, partnership, federal agency, state or political subdivision or agency thereof, or any body politic. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:402
• Person: includes individuals, firms, partnerships, corporations, and associations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:443
• Person: includes any natural person, firm, association, corporation, business trust, partnership, state or political subdivision or agency thereof, or any body politic. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:2803
• Person: means any employee or agent of the state or a political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• 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: 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.
• Program: means the inmate rehabilitation and workforce development program operated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections as authorized by the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public highway: means a public way for vehicular traffic, including the entire area dedicated thereto and the bridges, culverts, structures, appurtenances and features necessary to or associated with its purpose, and refers to those highways designated in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 3:2802
• 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.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative 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}
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirement: shall mean withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Retirement allowance: shall mean any benefit paid to a member under La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Retirement system: shall mean the Firefighters' Retirement System as established in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Sea food products: include shrimp, clams, fish, crabs, lobsters, and all other sea foods, as well as all by-products of sea foods. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:443
• Secretary: means the secretary of corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1151
• Secretary: means the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Service: shall mean service rendered as an employee as described in Paragraph (10) of this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:2252
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Share exchange: means a business combination pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1-1101
• Skilled craftsman: means a person who has completed training and certification or licensing in a skilled craft or an apprentice occupation as defined by the Louisiana Workforce Commission which may include but is not limited to electrician, plumber, pipefitter, welder, millwright, heavy equipment operator, carpenter, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technician, heavy construction, building construction, or machinist. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Skins and furs: include all the skins and furs of all quadrupeds valuable for their skins or furs, including but not limited to alligators, minks, otter, muskrats, beaver, raccoons, opossums, weasels, spotted skunks, or "civet cats". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:443
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Task force: means a parish or regional council comprised of governmental leaders and agency representatives from applicable state, tribal, or local entities, service providers, nonprofit organizations, and key stakeholders. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• 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.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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 electronic means which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted, except that it shall not include a service, device, or electronic means tariffed by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, used by a subscriber of telecommunicational services to receive the telephone numbers for calls placed to the subscriber. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1302
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Workforce development work release: means a program for on-the-job training of inmates who are participating in or have completed the inmate rehabilitation and workforce development program authorized by the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1199.3
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.