Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 16 > Chapter 2 > Part 5 - Trial Courts

• 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.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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
• 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
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• 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.
• 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
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Company: includes a bank, trust company, corporation, partnership, association, business or other trust, or similar business entity. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• 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.
• 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 mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Custodian: means either the "immediate custodian" or any person to whom the "immediate custodian" reports, the auditor or any other person designated by a corporation's board of directors to respond to a subpoena issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Customer: means a depositor, borrower, member, lessee, other person, or the personal or legal representative or estate thereof, who has, has had, or has contemplated a relationship with the financial institution that caused the financial institution to create, obtain, preserve or maintain financial records pertaining to the person or the person's affairs. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Department: means the department of financial institutions. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• Deposit: means a deposit of money, bonds or other things of value, creating a debtor-creditor relationship. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
• 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.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Financial institution: means a bank, savings and loan association, industrial loan and thrift company, credit union, mortgage broker, mortgage banker, or leasing company accepting deposits, making or arranging loans and making or arranging leases. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• 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.
• Government authority: means an agency or department of the state, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Immediate custodian: means the person preparing, preserving, using, supervising the using or preparation of the financial records, and also includes any person to whom the person reports who is familiar with the preparation, use and maintenance of the records. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Issuer: means any person that causes to be issued a subpoena for the production of records. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• 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.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• 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
• 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 any individual, partnership, corporation, association, trust or any other legal entity organized under the laws of this state, including any department or agency of this state, any county or municipal corporation located in this state, and any court of this state or of the United States. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Private law: A private bill enacted into law. Private laws have restricted applicability, often addressing immigration and naturalization issues affecting individuals.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• 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
• records: means any original document, any copy of an original document, or any information contained in the document, other than a customer's name, address, and account number, held by or in the custody of a financial institution, where the document, copy or information is identifiable as pertaining to one (1) or more customers of the institution. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• 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
• 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
• 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: means any writ, order, or other writing directed to a financial institution, or an officer thereof, and requiring the production of a financial record or records. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Supervisory agency: means :
  (A) The federal deposit insurance corporation. See Tennessee Code 45-10-102
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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}
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• 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