Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 16 > Chapter 10 - Circuit and Criminal Courts

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• any prior fiscal year: means any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 1984. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appraisal ratio: means the ratio of appraised values of record to one hundred percent (100%) of current values that are to be derived in accordance with applicable state law for use in ad valorem property tax determinations each tax year. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• 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
• Assessment ratio in effect: means that assessment ratio being applied by the comptroller of the treasury in assessing electric system property of electric cooperatives and electric membership corporations for ad valorem taxation or, if such assessment function ceases to be performed by the comptroller of the treasury, that assessment ratio applied by any authorized department, agency, comptroller of the treasury, or official of the state empowered to so apply such an assessment ratio in assessing electric system property of electric cooperatives and electric membership corporations. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bank: means any person, as hereinafter defined, doing a banking business subject to the laws of this or any other jurisdiction and, for the purposes of supervision, examination and liquidation, includes industrial investment companies and industrial banks authorized by chapter 5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Check: means any payment instrument, including any customer authorization for electronic payment. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commission: means the state procurement commission, which replaces the board of standards within former title 12, chapter 3, part 4. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions or the commissioner's designated representative. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions or the commissioner's designated representative. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• Committee: means the state protest committee, which replaces the board of standards protest authority within former §. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• 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.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Control: means possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities by contract or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• 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 advisory council on state procurement. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Court: includes every court and judge having jurisdiction in the case. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
• 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.
• Deferred presentment services: means a transaction pursuant to a written agreement involving the following combination of activities in exchange for a fee:
  (A) Accepting a check dated on the date it was written. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• Department: means the department of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Department: means the department of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• Deposit: means a deposit of money, bonds or other things of value, creating a debtor-creditor relationship. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dissolution: means that the LLC has incurred an event under §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electric operations: means all activities associated with the establishment, development, and administration of an electric system and the business of supplying electricity and associated services to the public, including, but not limited to, the generation, purchase, and sale of electric energy and the purchase, use and consumption of electric energy by ultimate consumers. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Electric system: means all tangible and intangible property and resources of every kind and description used or held for use in the purchase, generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Electronic terminal: means an electronic device through which a person may initiate an electronic fund transfer to access the person's deposit, share, or other accounts or credit facility, and includes, but is not limited to, automated teller machines, cash dispensing machines, point of sale terminals, or other cash, debit, stored value, script, or cash equivalent device. See Tennessee Code 45-16-101
• Entity: means , whether foreign or domestic and whether for profit or not-for-profit, limited liability companies, corporations, unincorporated associations, real estate investment trusts, statutory or business trusts or associations, estates, general partnerships, limited partnerships, registered or unregistered limited liability partnerships, limited liability limited partnerships or similar organizations, trusts, joint ventures, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common economic interest, and local, municipal, state, United States and foreign governments. See Tennessee Code 48-249-102
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial institution: means a state or national bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union that owns or operates an electronic terminal. See Tennessee Code 45-16-101
• 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.
• Fiscal year: means the year beginning July 1 of each calendar year. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Foreign access card: means any card or other device eligible for use in an electronic terminal where the foreign access card is not issued to the user by the owner or operator of the electronic terminal. See Tennessee Code 45-16-101
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Goods: means all property, including, but not limited to, supplies, equipment, materials, printing, and insurance. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Grant: means any grant awarded to the state or awarded by the state for the furnishing by the state of assistance, whether financial or otherwise, to any person to support a program authorized by law. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• 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}
• Licensee: means a person licensed to provide deferred presentment services pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• LLC: means a limited liability company, organized under chapters 201-248 of this title. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
• Member: means a person that has been admitted to an LLC as a member, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 48-249-102
• Metropolitan government: means the political entity created by consolidation of all, or substantially all, of the political and corporate functions of a county and a city or cities. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
• Mistrial: An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: means any incorporated city or town, metropolitan government, or county that now or hereafter owns and operates an electric system and buys all or part of its power requirements for resale and distribution from the Tennessee Valley authority. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• 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}
• Net plant value of the electric plant: means the depreciated original cost of the electric plant, in service and held for future use, and the book value of construction work in progress, all as shown on the books of the electric system and all of which are for use in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• operating: means that:
  (A) A charter has been issued to a bank by the United States comptroller of the currency or a certificate of authority has been issued by the commissioner. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• 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, corporation, firm, trust, estate, partnership, joint venture, or association. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Person: means an individual, any sole proprietorship, general partnership, corporation or limited liability company duly qualified to do business in Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Person: means an individual, group of individuals, partnership, association, corporation, or any other business unit or legal entity. See Tennessee Code 45-17-102
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Pledged property: means any titled personal property or personal property certificate of title that is deposited with a title pledge lender in the course of the title pledge lender's business and is the subject of a title pledge agreement or property pledge agreement. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Pledgor: means the individual or individuals obligated to repay the loan. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• 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.
• Principal executive office: means the office, in or out of this state, that is designated as the principal executive office of a domestic or foreign LLC in its articles or in an application for a certificate of authority, as applicable, as thereafter changed from time to time in accordance with this chapter. See Tennessee Code 48-249-102
• Private act: includes , without limitation, the charter and any amendments to the charter of any home rule municipality or any metropolitan government. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Procurement: means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring any goods or services. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Property pledge agreement: means any written bailment or similar agreement whereby a title pledge lender agrees to make a loan of money to a pledgor, and the pledgor agrees to the title pledge lender's taking physical possession of unencumbered titled personal property owned by the pledgor, and taking possession of the personal property certificate of title. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Proposer: includes a "bidder" or "proposer" that is a legal entity that has properly registered as required by the state. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Proxy voting: The practice of allowing a legislator to cast a vote in committee for an absent legislator.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Savings and loan association: includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor of such corporation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Services: means all services and agreements obligating the state, except services for highway and road improvements, which are governed by title 54, and designer and construction services, which are governed under chapter 15 of this title. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• Shared electronic network: means any system by which a person may initiate any financial transaction from an electronic terminal owned or operated by any person other than a financial institution with whom the person has a deposit, share, or other account or credit facility. See Tennessee Code 45-16-101
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supervisory body: means any board or other agency of a municipality established to supervise the management and operation of its electric system and electric operations, or, in the absence of a board or other agency, the governing body of the municipality. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Taxing jurisdiction: means any county, incorporated city or town, or metropolitan government in Tennessee having the power to levy taxes, or any special taxing district in Tennessee on behalf of which ad valorem property taxes may be levied, for the support of governmental and related activities and services. See Tennessee Code 7-52-303
• Termination: means the end of an LLC's existence as a legal entity and occurs when the articles of termination are filed with the secretary of state under §. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Title pledge lender: means any person engaged in the business of making title pledge agreements or property pledge agreements with pledgors. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Usage fee: is a ny fee charged by the owner or operator of an electronic terminal on transactions by a holder of a foreign access card. See Tennessee Code 45-16-101
• Vendor: means a legal entity that has been established by the department of finance and administration's division of accounts as a vendor through proper authority for which payment may be made by the state. See Tennessee Code 4-56-101
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105