Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 5 > Chapter 13 - Legislative Audit Act

• Adoptee: means an adopted person or a person who is the subject of adoption proceedings that are intended to result in the adoptee becoming the legal child of another person. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Adoption: means the act of creating the legal relationship between parent and child when it does not exist genetically. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Adoptive parent: means an adult who has become the mother or father of a child through the legal process of adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Agency: means each state office, department, division, board, commission, council, committee, institution, university system unit, or other entity or instrumentality of the executive branch, office of the judicial branch, or office of the legislative branch of state government. See Montana Code 5-13-401
• Agency: means a child placement agency licensed by the state of Montana pursuant to Title 52, chapter 8, that is expressly empowered to place children preliminary to a possible adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• agent: means a person appointed by the attorney general to conduct criminal investigations and perform related duties within the department of justice. See Montana Code 44-2-111
• Audit services: means financial compliance post audits as required by this chapter. See Montana Code 5-13-401
• 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.
• Birth parent: means the woman who gave birth to the child or the father of genetic origin of the child. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Child: means any person under 18 years of age. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Child with special needs: means a child who is a dependent of a public or voluntary licensed child placement agency and meets at least one of the following criteria as a child who is:

  (a)diagnosed as having a physical, mental, or emotional disability;

  (b)recognized to be at high risk of developing a physical, mental, or emotional disability;

  (c)a member of a minority group;

  (d)6 years of age or older; or

  (e)a member of a sibling group to be placed together for adoption. See Montana Code 42-10-103

• Confidential intermediary: means a person certified by the department and under contract with or employed by a nonprofit entity with expertise in adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Court: means a court of record in a competent jurisdiction and in Montana means a district court or a tribal court. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• 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}
• criminal justice information network: means a telecommunications network used exclusively for the purpose of information exchange among the state's law enforcement agencies as provided in Title 44, chapter 5. See Montana Code 44-2-301
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 42-10-103
• Department: means a principal functional and administrative entity that:

  (a)is created by this chapter within the executive branch of state government;

  (b)is one of the 20 principal departments permitted under the constitution; and

  (c)includes its units. See Montana Code 2-15-102

• Department: means the department of public health and human services, provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Direct parental placement adoption: means an adoption in which the parent of the child places the child with a prospective adoptive parent personally known and selected by the parent independent of an agency. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Extended family member: means a person who is or was the adoptee's parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, or child. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• 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.
• Identifying information: means information that directly reveals or indirectly indicates the identity of a person and includes the person's name or address. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Nonidentifying information: means information that does not directly reveal or indirectly indicate the identity of a person, including:

  (a)medical information and information related to general physical characteristics;

  (b)family information, including marital status and the existence of siblings;

  (c)religious affiliation;

  (d)educational background information that does not reveal specific programs or institutions attended;

  (e)general occupation;

  (f)hobbies; and

  (g)photographs provided by any of the parties involved that were specifically intended to be provided to another party. See Montana Code 42-1-103

• Parent: means the birth or adoptive mother or the birth, adoptive, or legal father whose parental rights have not been terminated. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Placing parent: means a parent who is voluntarily making a child available for adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Preplacement evaluation: means the home study process conducted by the department or a licensed child-placing agency that:

  (a)assists a prospective adoptive parent or family to assess its own readiness to adopt; and

  (b)assesses whether the prospective adoptive parent or family and home meet applicable standards. See Montana Code 42-1-103

• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Records: means all documents, exhibits, and data pertaining to an adoption. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Relinquishment: means the informed and voluntary release in writing of all parental rights with respect to a child by a parent to an agency or individual. See Montana Code 42-1-103
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• University system unit: means the board of regents or its units. See Montana Code 5-13-401
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.