Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 15A > Article 5 - Expunction of Records

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Administrative law judge: A person appointed under N. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Adopt: To take final action to create, amend, or repeal a rule. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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.
• 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.
• Agency: An agency or an officer in the executive branch of the government of this State. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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.
• Body cavity searches: The probing of body orifices in search of contraband. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• City: means a city as defined by N. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
• Clerk: means the clerk to the board of commissioners. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
• 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.
• Codifier of Rules: The person appointed by the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to N. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contested case: An administrative proceeding pursuant to this Chapter to resolve a dispute between an agency and another person that involves the person's rights, duties, or privileges, including licensing or the levy of a monetary penalty. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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.
• Copy: means all identical versions of a document created or existing in paper or electronic form, including the original and all other identical versions of the document. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1
• 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.
• County: means any one of the counties listed in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• 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.
• 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:
• Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, Internet, or similar capabilities. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1
• Entered: means signed and filed in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county in which the document is to be entered. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1
• 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}
• Escape risk: An incarcerated person who is determined to be at high risk for escape based on an individualized risk assessment. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Facility employee: Any person who is employed by the local government and who works at or in a local confinement facility. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• filed: means :

  a. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1

• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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
• General law: means an act of the General Assembly that applies to all units of local government, to all counties, to all counties within a class defined by population or other criteria, to all cities, or to all cities within a class defined by population or other criteria, including a law that meets the foregoing standards but contains a clause or section exempting from its effect one or more counties, cities, or counties and cities. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
• 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.
• Hearing officer: A person or group of persons designated by an agency that is subject to Article 3A of this Chapter to preside in a contested case hearing conducted under that Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Important circumstance: There has been an individualized determination that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the female incarcerated person presents a threat of harming herself, the fetus, or any other person, or an escape risk that cannot be reasonably contained by other means, including the use of additional personnel. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• 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.
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Incarcerated person: Any person incarcerated or detained in a local confinement facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or a diversionary program. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• 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.
• 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}
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• 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.
• 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.
• License: Any certificate, permit, or other evidence, by whatever name called, of a right or privilege to engage in any activity, except licenses issued under Chapter 20 and Subchapter I of Chapter 105 of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Licensing: Any administrative action issuing, failing to issue, suspending, or revoking a license or occupational license. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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 act: means an act of the General Assembly that applies to one or more specific counties, cities, or counties and cities by name. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
• Local confinement facility: includes a county or city jail, a local lockup, a regional or district jail, a juvenile detention facility, a detention facility for adults operated by a local government, and any other facility operated by a local government for confinement of persons awaiting trial or serving sentences except that it shall not include a county satellite jail/work release unit governed by Part 3 of Article 10 of Chapter 153A of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Menstrual products: Products that women use during their menstrual cycle. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• oath: shall be construed to include "affirmation" in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in like cases the word "sworn" shall be construed to include the word "affirmed. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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.
• Occupational license: Any certificate, permit, or other evidence, by whatever name called, of a right or privilege to engage in a profession, occupation, or field of endeavor that is issued by an occupational licensing agency. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Occupational licensing agency: Any board, commission, committee, or other agency of the State that is established for the primary purpose of regulating the entry of persons into, or the conduct of persons within a particular profession, occupation, or field of endeavor, and that is authorized to issue and revoke licenses. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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: Any person or agency named or admitted as a party or properly seeking as of right to be admitted as a party and includes the agency as appropriate. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Person: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, body politic, and any unincorporated association, organization, or society that may sue or be sued under a common name. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Person aggrieved: Any person or group of persons of common interest directly or indirectly affected substantially in his, her, or its person, property, or employment by an administrative decision. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: shall include moneys, goods, chattels, choses in action and evidences of debt, including all things capable of ownership, not descendable to heirs at law. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• 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: Any nonbinding interpretive statement within the delegated authority of an agency that merely defines, interprets, or explains the meaning of a statute or rule. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Postpartum recovery: The six-week period following delivery, or longer, as determined by the health care professional responsible for the health and safety of the female incarcerated person. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• 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.
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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.
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Residence: Domicile or principal place of business. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Restraints: Any physical or mechanical device used to restrict or control the movement of an incarcerated person's body, limbs, or both. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Restrictive housing: Any type of detention that involves removal from general population and an inability to leave a room or cell for the vast majority of the day. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Rule: Any agency regulation, standard, or statement of general applicability that implements or interprets an enactment of the General Assembly or Congress or a regulation adopted by a federal agency or that describes the procedure or practice requirements of an agency. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of such official seal, made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression made by means of a wafer or of wax affixed thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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.
• Signature: means any symbol, including, but not limited to, the name of an individual, which is executed by that individual, personally or through an authorized agent, with the intent to authenticate or to effect the issuance or entry of a document. See North Carolina General Statutes 15A-101.1
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• State of undress: A situation when an incarcerated person is partially or fully naked, either in the shower, toilet areas, a medical examination room, or while having a body cavity search conducted. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-229.1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Substantial evidence: Relevant evidence a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. See North Carolina General Statutes 150B-2
• 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.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• 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.
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.