Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 3-10 - Taxation of Beverages

• administrator: as used in this chapter applies only to full time, certified professionals having the authority in the interest of a local or regional school district or school within a district to direct, supervise, advise, or manage; provided, however, the term "administrator" does not include superintendents of schools or assistant superintendents of schools. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-12.1-2
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Articles of incorporation: means the original or restated articles of incorporation and all of their amendments including agreements of merger. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• At school: means on school premises, at any school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on school premises, on a school-transportation vehicle, at an official school bus stop, using property or equipment provided by the school, or creates a material and substantial disruption of the education process or the orderly operation of the school. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-21-33
• Authorized shares: means the shares of all classes which the corporation is authorized to issue. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Average compensation: means the average of the annual contractual or yearly salary of an employee during the five (5) consecutive years of employment when average compensation was the highest either: (i) as an employee under the program, or (ii) as a member of the state employees retirement system. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• 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: means any person in receipt of annuity, benefit, or retirement allowance from the retirement system as provided in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• Beverage: means any liquid that either by itself or by mixture with any other liquid or liquids, is, or may become, fit for human consumption as a drink and that contains five-tenths of one per cent (. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1
• Board: means the board of regents for higher education. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• Bullying: means the use by one or more students of a written, verbal or electronic expression or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof directed at a student that:

  (i)  Causes physical or emotional harm to the student or damage to the student's property;

  (ii)  Places the student in reasonable fear of harm to himself/herself or of damage to his/her property;

  (iii)  Creates an intimidating, threatening, hostile, or abusive educational environment for the student;

  (iv)  Infringes on the rights of the student to participate in school activities; or

  (v)  Materially and substantially disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-21-33

• 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: includes a stepchild of a deceased member who has been a stepchild for at least one year immediately preceding the date on which the member died or an adopted child of a deceased member without regard to the length of time the child has been adopted. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• 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.
• compensation: includes any and all salary paid for teaching services regardless of whether any part of the salary or compensation is derived from any state or federal grant or appropriation for teachers' salaries, as the term is defined in §?36-8-1(8). See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Cyber-bullying: means bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, texting or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo electronic or photo optical system, including, but not limited to, electronic mail, Internet communications, instant messages or facsimile communications. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-21-33
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means the director of the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Division of taxation: means the division of taxation of the department of administration. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1
• domestic corporation: means a corporation for profit subject to the provisions of this chapter, except a foreign corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Employees: means presidents, professors, instructors, or other employees of the board who are eligible to participate in any retirement program by virtue of the terms of the program and who are exempt from the merit system; except as provided in this chapter, if an employee of the board who participates in the program shall change classifications, he or she shall have the option to remain with the program. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• 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}
• 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.
• Executed: means an original signature, facsimile, or an electronically transmitted signature submitted through a medium provided and authorized by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Filing: means delivered to the secretary of state in either paper format or electronic transmission through a medium provided and authorized by the secretary of state. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• 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.
• Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit organized under laws other than the laws of this state for a purpose or purposes for which a corporation may be organized under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• 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.
• 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.
• Import: means at one time, or in one transaction, to take, or cause to be taken, into this state from outside the state any malt beverage in excess of eight (8) gallons or any vinous beverage or any beverage consisting in whole, or in part, of alcohol produced by distillation in excess of three (3) gallons. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Individual: means a natural person. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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.
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• 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.
• Person: means an individual or an entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Prior service: means service as a teacher rendered prior to the first day of July, 1949, certified on his or her prior service certificate and allowable as prior service under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• program: means any retirement program adopted by the board of regents for higher education for any of its employees as defined in this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10
• 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.
• Retired teacher: means any teacher who retired prior to July 1, 1949, pursuant to the provisions of G. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• seal: shall be construed to include an impression of the seal made with or without the use of wax or wafer on the paper. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-15
• Service: means service as a teacher as described in subdivision (12) of this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Shareholder: means one who is a holder of record of shares in a corporation. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Shares: means the units into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• Spouse: means the surviving person who was married to a deceased member, but only if the surviving person meets one of the following conditions:

  (i)  Was married to the deceased member for not less than one year immediately prior to the date on which the member died;

  (ii)  Is the mother or father of the deceased member's child(ren);

  (iii)  Legally adopted the deceased member's child(ren) while married to the deceased member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

  (iv)  Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1

• State: means the state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-1.2-106
• State colleges: means the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, Community College of Rhode Island, and any other universities, colleges, or schools under the jurisdiction of the board. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• State employees retirement system: means the retirement system existing by virtue of chapters 8 — 10 of title 36 and made applicable to employees by chapter 17 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-17.1-1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• system: means the employees' retirement system of the state of Rhode Island created by chapter 8 of Title 36, and "retirement board" means the board established under that chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• teacher: as used in this chapter , is deemed to include every person employed as a teacher, supervisor, principal, or superintendent or assistant superintendent, of schools, whether employed in schools supported in whole or in part by public funds, or in colleges, or in public institutions, or in the department of elementary and secondary education. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-12-1
• teacher: as used in this chapter means every person for whose position a certificate issued by the department of elementary and secondary education is required by law. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-13-1
• Teacher: means a person required to hold a certificate of qualification issued by or under the authority of the board of regents for elementary and secondary education and who is engaged in teaching as his or her principal occupation and is regularly employed as a teacher in the public schools of any city or town in the state, or any formalized, commissioner approved, cooperative service arrangement. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• teacher assistant: as used in this chapter is deemed to include any person employed to provide instructional or other direct services to students (and/or their parents/legal guardian) under the supervision and direction of the classroom teacher or other appropriately-certified professional staff. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-11.2-1
• Teaching: includes teaching, supervising, and superintending or assistant superintending of schools. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• 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.
• Total service: means prior service as defined in subdivision (6) of this section, plus service rendered as a member of the system on or after the first day of July, 1949. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• 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: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Wines: means all fermented alcoholic beverages made from fruits, flowers, herbs, or vegetables and containing not more than twenty-four percent (24%) of alcohol by volume at sixty degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees F), except cider obtained by the alcohol fermentation of the juice of apples and containing not less than five tenths of one percent (. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-1-1