Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes > Chapter 260C - Juvenile Safety and Placement

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adult: means an individual 18 years of age or older. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
• 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.
• Aeronautics: means the transportation by aircraft, the operation, construction, repair, or maintenance of aircraft, aircraft power plants and accessories, including the repair, packing and maintenance of parachutes; the design, establishment, construction, operation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of airports, restricted landing areas, or other air navigation facilities and air instruction, and powers incidental thereto. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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.
• Agency: means the responsible social services agency or a licensed child-placing agency. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Airport: means any locality, either of land or water, including intermediate landing fields, which is used or intended to be used for the landing and take off of aircraft, whether or not facilities are provided for the shelter, servicing, or repair of aircraft, or for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo, and also includes any facility used in, available for use in, or designed for use in, aid of air navigation, including, but without limitation, landing areas, lights, any apparatus or equipment for disseminating weather information, for signaling, for radio-directional finding, or for radio or other electrical communication, and any other structure or mechanism having a similar purpose for guiding or controlling flight in the air or the landing and take off of aircraft, and also includes, but without limitation, access roads, parking areas, railroad siding facilities, such land contiguous or not as may be required for installations necessary for safe and efficient operation, buildings, structures, hangars, shops and any personal property usually used in connection with the operations of such airports, including specifically, but not exclusively, snow removal or impacting equipment, fire and ambulance equipment, motor vehicles and equipment for buildings, structures, hangars, and shops. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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.
• 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 courts: means the supreme court and the court of appeals. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• 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
• area: means the area over which the Metropolitan Council has jurisdiction, including only the counties of Anoka; Carver; Dakota excluding the cities of Northfield and Cannon Falls; Hennepin excluding the cities of Hanover and Rockford; Ramsey; Scott excluding the city of New Prague; and Washington. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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.
• 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.
• Budget resolution: Legislation in the form of a concurrent resolution setting forth the budget. The budget resolution establishes various budget totals, divides spending totals into functional categories (e.g., transportation), and may include reconciliation instructions to designated committees.
• Case plan: means any plan for the delivery of services to a child and parent or guardian, or, when reunification is not required, the child alone, that is developed according to the requirements of section 245. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Chair: includes chairman, chairwoman, and chairperson. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• 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: means an individual under 18 years of age. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Child abuse: means an act that involves a minor victim that constitutes a violation of section 609. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Child in need of protection or services: means a child who is in need of protection or services because the child:

  (1) is abandoned or without parent, guardian, or custodian;

  (2)(i) has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse as defined in section 260E. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• Child-placing agency: means anyone licensed under sections 245A. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• children: includes children by birth or adoption;

  (9) "day" comprises the time from midnight to the next midnight;

  (10) "fiscal year" means the year by or for which accounts are reckoned;

  (11) "hereafter" means a reference to the time after the time when the law containing such word takes effect;

  (12) "heretofore" means a reference to the time previous to the time when the law containing such word takes effect;

  (13) "judicial sale" means a sale conducted by an officer or person authorized for the purpose by some competent tribunal;

  (14) "minor" means an individual under the age of 18 years;

  (15) "money" means lawful money of the United States;

  (16) "night time" means the time from sunset to sunrise;

  (17) "non compos mentis" refers to an individual of unsound mind;

  (18) "notary" means a notary public;

  (19) "now" in any provision of a law referring to other laws in force, or to persons in office, or to any facts or circumstances as existing, relates to the laws in force, or to the persons in office, or to the facts or circumstances existing, respectively, on the effective date of such provision;

  (20) "verified" when used in reference to writings, means supported by oath or affirmation. See Minnesota Statutes 645.45

• Committee membership: Legislators are assigned to specific committees by their party. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.
• 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.
• Compelling reasons: means an individualized determination by the responsible social services agency, which is approved by the court, related to a request by the agency not to initiate proceedings to terminate parental rights or transfer permanent legal and physical custody of a child to the child's relative or former noncustodial parent under section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• 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 Metropolitan Council established by section 473. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Court: means juvenile court unless otherwise specified in this section. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• court administrator: means the court administrator of the court in which the action or proceeding is pending, and "court administrator's office" means that court administrator's office. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Credit bureau: An agency that collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financing companies. (Also commonly referred to as consumer-reporting agency or credit-reporting agency.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Custodian: means any person who is under a legal obligation to provide care and support for a minor or who is in fact providing care and support for a minor. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Developmental disability: means developmental disability as defined in United States Code, title 42, § 6001(8). See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• 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:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Domestic child abuse: means :

  (1) any physical injury to a minor family or household member inflicted by an adult family or household member other than by accidental means;

  (2) subjection of a minor family or household member by an adult family or household member to any act which constitutes a violation of sections 609. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Egregious harm: means the infliction of bodily harm to a child or neglect of a child which demonstrates a grossly inadequate ability to provide minimally adequate parental care. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Emotional maltreatment: means the consistent, deliberate infliction of mental harm on a child by a person responsible for the child's care, that has an observable, sustained, and adverse effect on the child's physical, mental, or emotional development. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Emotionally disturbed: means emotional disturbance as described in section 245. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• estimated market value: has the meaning given in section 273. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• 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.
• 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.
• Family and permanency team: means a team consisting of the child's parent or legal custodian, relatives, foster care providers, and professionals who are resources to the child's family such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy, as appropriate. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Family foster home: means the home of an individual or family who is licensed for child foster care under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245A, meeting the standards in Minnesota Rules, chapter 2960, excluding foster residence settings licensed under Minnesota Rules, parts Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Family or household members: means spouses, former spouses, parents and children, persons related by blood, and persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past, and persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Foster care: means 24-hour substitute care for a child for whom a responsible social services agency has placement and care responsibility and:

  (1) who is placed away from the child's parent or guardian in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities not excluded in this subdivision, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes;

  (2) who is colocated with the child's parent or guardian in a licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program as defined in subdivision 22a; or

  (3) who is returned to the care of the child's parent or guardian from whom the child was removed under a trial home visit pursuant to section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• 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.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• Habitual truant: means a child under the age of 17 years who is absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for seven school days per school year if the child is in elementary school or for one or more class periods on seven school days per school year if the child is in middle school, junior high school, or high school or a child who is 17 years of age who is absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for one or more class periods on seven school days per school year and who has not lawfully withdrawn from school under section 120A. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• 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}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Interceptor: means any sewer and necessary appurtenances thereto, including but not limited to mains, pumping stations, and sewage flow regulating and measuring stations, which is designed or used to conduct sewage originating in more than one local government unit, or which is designed or used to conduct all or substantially all of the sewage originating in a single local government unit from a point of collection in that unit to an interceptor or treatment works outside that unit. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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}
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Joint session: When both chambers of a legislature adopt a concurrent resolution to meet together.
• 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}
• Legal custody: means the right to the care, custody, and control of a child who has been taken from a parent by the court in accordance with the provisions of section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program: means a residential treatment facility that provides the parent or guardian with parenting skills training, parent education, or individual and family counseling, under an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma according to recognized principles of a trauma-informed approach and trauma-specific interventions to address the consequences of trauma and facilitate healing. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local governmental unit: means any county, city, town, school district, special district or other political subdivisions or public corporation, other than the council or a metropolitan agency, lying in whole or part within the metropolitan area. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Major airport: means any airport now or which may hereafter be operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission as a terminal for regular, scheduled air passenger service. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Majority: means with respect to an individual the period of time after the individual reaches the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
• Metropolitan agency: means the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Metropolitan Airports Commission, and Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan Airports Commission: means the commission established in sections 473. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan county: means any one of the following counties: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan disposal system: means any or all of the interceptors or treatment works owned or operated by the Metropolitan Council. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission: means the commission established in sections 473. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan significance: means a status determined by the Metropolitan Council pursuant to the rules and procedures established by section 473. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Metropolitan transit area: means the metropolitan area. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Minor: means an individual under the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
• Minor: means an individual under 18 years of age. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Minority: means with respect to an individual the period of time during which the individual is a minor. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and "year" is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Neglected and in foster care: means a child:

  (1) who has been placed in foster care by court order; and

  (2) whose parents' circumstances, condition, or conduct are such that the child cannot be returned to them; and

  (3) whose parents, despite the availability of needed rehabilitative services, have failed to make reasonable efforts to adjust their circumstances, condition or conduct, or have willfully failed to meet reasonable expectations with regard to visiting the child or providing financial support for the child. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• Oath: includes "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath; and in like cases "swear" includes "affirm" and "sworn" "affirmed. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• 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.
• Operator: means any person engaged or seeking to engage in the business of providing regular route public transit. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Paratransit: has the meaning given in section 174. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Parent: means a person who has a legal parent and child relationship with a child which confers or imposes on the person legal rights, privileges, duties, and obligations consistent with sections 257. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Park district: means a park district created under chapter 398. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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.
• Permanency plan: means the established goal in the out-of-home placement plan that will achieve a safe, permanent home for the child. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Person: includes any individual, association, corporation, partnership, and the state or any of its political subdivisions, departments, or agencies. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Petty offense: A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Policy plan: means a long-range comprehensive plan of the Metropolitan Council. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• 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.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public member: means a person who is not, or never was, a member of the profession or occupation being licensed or regulated or the spouse of any such person, or a person who does not have or has never had, a material financial interest in either the providing of the professional service being licensed or regulated, or an activity directly related to the profession or occupation being licensed or regulated. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Public waters: means public waters as defined in section 103G. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Putative father: has the meaning given in section 259. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Qualified individual: means a trained culturally competent professional or licensed clinician, including a mental health professional under section 245. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Qualified residential treatment program: means a children's residential treatment program licensed under chapter 245A or licensed or approved by a tribe that is approved to receive foster care maintenance payments under section 256. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• 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}
• Regional recreation open space: means land and water areas, or interests therein, and facilities determined by the Metropolitan Council to be of regional importance in providing for a balanced system of public outdoor recreation for the metropolitan area, including but not limited to park reserves, major linear parks and trails, large recreation parks, and conservatories, zoos, and other special use facilities. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Regular route transit: has the meaning given in section 174. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Relative: means a person related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption; the legal parent, guardian, or custodian of the child's siblings; or an individual who is an important friend of the child or of the child's parent or custodian, including an individual with whom the child has resided or had significant contact or who has a significant relationship to the child or the child's parent or custodian. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• 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).
• Residential treatment facility: means a 24-hour-a-day program that provides treatment for children with emotional disturbance, consistent with section 245. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Responsible social services agency: means the county social services agency that has responsibility for public child welfare and child protection services and includes the provision of adoption services as an agent of the commissioner of human services. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Runaway: means an unmarried child under the age of 18 years who is absent from the home of a parent or other lawful placement without the consent of the parent, guardian, or lawful custodian. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• seal: includes an impression thereof upon the paper alone, as well as an impression on a wafer, wax, or other substance thereto attached. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Secure detention facility: means a physically restricting facility, including but not limited to a jail, a hospital, a state institution, a residential treatment center, or a detention home used for the temporary care of a child pending court action. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Sequester: To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
• 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.
• Sewage: means all liquid or water-carried waste products from whatever source derived, together with such groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Sexually exploited youth: means an individual who:

  (1) is alleged to have engaged in conduct which would, if committed by an adult, violate any federal, state, or local law relating to being hired, offering to be hired, or agreeing to be hired by another individual to engage in sexual penetration or sexual conduct;

  (2) is a victim of a crime described in section 609. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• Shelter care facility: means a physically unrestricting facility, such as but not limited to, a hospital, a group home or a licensed facility for foster care, used for the temporary care of a child pending court action. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Sibling: means one of two or more individuals who have one or both parents in common through blood, marriage, or adoption. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
• Small business: means a business entity organized for profit, including but not limited to any individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, association or cooperative, which entity:

  (1) is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation; and

  (2) has 20 or fewer full-time employees; or

  (3) in the preceding fiscal year has not had more than the equivalent of $1,000,000 in annual gross revenues; or

  (4) if the business is a technical or professional service, shall not have had more than the equivalent of $2,500,000 in annual gross revenues in the preceding fiscal year. See Minnesota Statutes 645.445

• state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• State agency: means the state of Minnesota or any agency, board, commission, department or educational institution thereof. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tax: means any fee, charge, exaction, or assessment imposed by a governmental entity on an individual, person, entity, transaction, good, service, or other thing. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• 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.
• transit: has the meaning given in section 174. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• transit system: means , without limitation, a combination of property, structures, improvements, equipment, plants, parking or other facilities, and rights, or any thereof, used or useful for the purposes of public transit. See Minnesota Statutes 473.121
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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}
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• verified: when used in reference to writings, means supported by oath or affirmation. See Minnesota Statutes 645.45
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Violate: includes failure to comply with. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Wetlands: means lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• withholding of medically indicated treatment: means the failure to respond to the infant's life-threatening conditions by providing treatment, including appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication which, in the treating physician's, advanced practice registered nurse's, or physician assistant's reasonable medical judgment, will be most likely to be effective in ameliorating or correcting all conditions, except that the term does not include the failure to provide treatment other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication to an infant when, in the treating physician's, advanced practice registered nurse's, or physician assistant's reasonable medical judgment:

  (i) the infant is chronically and irreversibly comatose;

  (ii) the provision of the treatment would merely prolong dying, not be effective in ameliorating or correcting all of the infant's life-threatening conditions, or otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the infant; or

  (iii) the provision of the treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of the infant and the treatment itself under the circumstances would be inhumane;

  (6) is one whose parent, guardian, or other custodian for good cause desires to be relieved of the child's care and custody, including a child who entered foster care under a voluntary placement agreement between the parent and the responsible social services agency under section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.