Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 36 > Chapter 5 > Part 4 - Expedited Process for Support

• 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.
• Aid: means the same as assistance, except that aid is provided in an occurrence during any period of time when a state of emergency has not been declared. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assistance: means the provision of personnel, equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and other resources to assist in firefighting, law enforcement, the provision of public works services, the provision of emergency medical care, the provision of civil defense services, or any other emergency assistance one governmental entity is able to provide to another in response to a request for assistance in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Child: means a person entitled to support from such person's parents by virtue of such person's minority or who is entitled to support as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 36-5-401
• Child support order: means a support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state or foreign country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
• Emergency: means an occurrence or threat of an occurrence, whether natural or man-made, that results in or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property and which results in a declaration of a state of emergency by a municipal mayor, a county mayor or executive, the governor, or the president. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Employee: means paid, volunteer, and auxiliary personnel and emergency management workers of a governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Governmental entity: means any political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, any incorporated city or town, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving public funds and recognized under title 68, chapter 102, part 3, rescue squad, human resource agency, public building authority, airport authority, and development district, or any instrumentality of government created by one (1) or more of these named governmental entities or the general assembly, or any entity otherwise recognized by state law as a local governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• 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.
• Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Magistrate: means a duly licensed attorney who has been actively engaged in the practice of law for a period of not less than two (2) years appointed by court authority to set and enforce child support, to review the administrative hearing decisions of the department of human services pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 36-5-401
• Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that:
  (A) Owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
• Petitioner: means a person or governmental entity seeking to be awarded or to enforce support for a child, or seeking to modify a previous child support order. See Tennessee Code 36-5-401
• Requesting party: means a governmental entity that requests aid or assistance from another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Respondent: means a person from whom child support is sought or a person in opposition to modification of a prior order. See Tennessee Code 36-5-401
• Responding party: means a governmental entity that has received and responded to a request to provide mutual aid or assistance to another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
• 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
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.