Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes > Title 14 > Part 5 > Chapter 501 > Subchapter 3 - District Courts

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• 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.
• 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.
• Municipality: shall include cities, towns and plantations. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 501
• Notice: means written notification served personally, sent by certified mail or sent by first-class mail to the last known address of the person for whom the notification is intended. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 111
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, association, society, club, corporation, financial institution, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, assignee or any other group or combination acting as a unit, the State or Federal Government or any political subdivision or agency of either government. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 111
• Place: shall include municipalities, townships and any other unorganized area. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 501
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Property: shall be construed to mean both real estate and personal property. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 501
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tax: means the total amount required to be paid, withheld and paid over or collected and paid over with respect to estimated or actual tax liability under this Title, any credit or reimbursement allowed or paid pursuant to this Title that is recoverable by the assessor and any amount assessed by the assessor pursuant to this Title, including any interest or penalties provided by law. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 111
• Tax collector: shall mean any person chosen, appointed or designated by a municipality or the officers thereof to collect any tax due a municipality; or his successor in office. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 501
• Taxpayer: means any person required to file a return under this Title or to pay, withhold and pay over or collect and pay over any tax imposed by this Title. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 36 Sec. 111
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72