Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 39 > Chapter 16 - Offenses Against Administration of Government

• Act: means a bodily movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, and includes speech. See Tennessee Code 39-16-401
• 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.
• 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.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Benefit: means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain, enhancement or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Bodily injury: includes a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn or disfigurement, and physical pain or temporary illness or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Bonds: means bonds or interim certificates issued pending preparation or delivery of definitive bonds of a local government issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• 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
• Coercion: means a threat, however communicated, to:
  (A) Commit any offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• Complaining witness: means a person who signs a criminal complaint. See Tennessee Code 39-16-601
• 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.
• Custody: means under arrest by a law enforcement officer or under restraint by a public servant pursuant to an order of a court. See Tennessee Code 39-16-601
• Customer: means any individual or entity who causes or caused a molder to fabricate, cast or otherwise make a die, mold, form, or pattern or who provides a molder with a die, mold, form, or pattern to manufacture, assemble, cast, fabricate or otherwise make a product or products for a customer. See Tennessee Code 66-18-101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deadly weapon: means :
  (A) A firearm or anything manifestly designed, made or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: means a person accused of an offense under this title and includes any person who aids or abets the commission of such offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Escape: means unauthorized departure from custody or failure to return to custody following temporary leave for a specific purpose or limited period, but does not include a violation of conditions of probation or parole. See Tennessee Code 39-16-601
• 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.
• Federal agency: includes the United States, the president of the United States, or any agency, instrumentality or corporation of the United States, which has heretofore been or may hereafter be designated, created or authorized by or pursuant to any act or acts or joint resolutions of the congress of the United States, to make loans or grants, or which may be owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the United States. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Financial newspaper: means a financial newspaper, financial journal or other financial publication. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Force: means compulsion by the use of physical power or violence and shall be broadly construed to accomplish the purposes of this title. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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}
• 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.
• Governing body: means the legislative body of any local government of this state or any other authority charged with the governing of the affairs of any local government in this state. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Government: means the state or any political subdivision of the state, and includes any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality or other political subdivision. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Governmental record: means anything:
  (A) Belonging to, received or kept by the government for information. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Handgun: means any firearm with a barrel length of less than twelve inches (12") that is designed, made or adapted to be fired with one (1) hand. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Harm: means anything reasonably regarded as loss, disadvantage or injury, including harm to another person in whose welfare the person affected is interested. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Juror: means any person who is a member of any jury, including a grand jury, impaneled by any court of this state or by any public servant authorized by law to impanel a jury. See Tennessee Code 39-16-101
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Knowing: means that a person acts knowingly with respect to the conduct or to circumstances surrounding the conduct when the person is aware of the nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Law: means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States, a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute. See Tennessee Code 39-16-401
• Law enforcement officer: means an officer, employee or agent of government who has a duty imposed by law to:
  (A) Maintain public order. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Livestock: means all equine as well as animals that are being raised primarily for use as food or fiber for human utilization or consumption including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and poultry. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Local government: means any county, municipality or metropolitan government in this state. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Local government instrumentality: means any authority created by law on behalf of a county, metropolitan government, municipality or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Mandated project: means a public works project that a local government is required by a court order or other governmental mandate to construct as determined by the local government with the approval of the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller's designee. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Material: means the statement, irrespective of its admissibility under the rules of evidence, could have affected the course or outcome of the official proceeding. See Tennessee Code 39-16-701
• Molder: includes , but is not limited to, a tool or die maker. See Tennessee Code 66-18-101
• 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.
• 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}
• 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}
• Oath: means a solemn and formal undertaking to tell the truth and includes an equivalent affirmation permitted by law as a substitute for an oath administered by a person authorized by law to take statements under oath. See Tennessee Code 39-16-701
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Obligations: means bonds, notes and any other evidence of indebtedness lawfully issued or assumed by a local government. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Obtain: includes , but is not limited to, the taking, carrying away or the sale, conveyance or transfer of title to or interest in or possession of property, and includes, but is not limited to, conduct known as larceny, larceny by trick, larceny by conversion, embezzlement, extortion or obtaining property by false pretenses. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Official proceeding: means any type of administrative, executive, legislative or judicial proceeding that may be conducted before a public servant authorized by law to take statements under oath. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Official proceeding: means any type of administrative, executive, judicial, or legislative proceeding that is conducted before a public servant authorized by law to take statements under oath in that proceeding. See Tennessee Code 39-16-701
• 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.
• Pecuniary benefit: means benefit in the form of money, property, commercial interests or anything else, the primary significance of which is economic gain. See Tennessee Code 39-16-101
• Penal institution: includes any institution or facility used to house or detain a person:
  (A) Convicted of a crime. See Tennessee Code 39-16-601
• Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: means anything of value, including, but not limited to, money, real estate, tangible or intangible personal property, including anything severed from land, library material, contract rights, choses-in-action, interests in or claims to wealth, credit, admission or transportation tickets, captured or domestic animals, food and drink, electric or other power. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public servant: means :
  (A) Any public officer or employee of the state or of any political subdivision of the state or of any governmental instrumentality within the state including, but not limited to, law enforcement officers. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Public servant: means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one (1) of the following even if the public servant has not yet qualified for office or assumed the duties:
  (A) An officer, employee, or agent of government. See Tennessee Code 39-16-401
• Public servant: means a person elected, selected, employed or otherwise designated as one (1) of the following, even if the person has not yet qualified for office or assumed the duties:
  (A) An officer, employee, or agent of government. See Tennessee Code 39-16-501
• Public works project: includes any one (1) or any combination of the following: acquisitions of land for the purpose of providing or preserving open land. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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
• 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
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Revenues: means all fees, rents, tolls, rates, rentals, interest earnings, or other charges received or receivable by the local government from any public works project or enterprise then existing or thereafter to be constructed, including any revenues derived or to be derived by a local government from a lease, agreement or contract with any other local government, local government instrumentality, the state, or a state or federal agency for the use of or in connection with a public works project or enterprise, or all other charges to be levied and collected in connection with and all other income and receipts of whatever kind or character derived by the local government from the operation of any public works project or enterprise or arising from any public works project or enterprise. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• 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
• Serious bodily injury: means bodily injury that involves:
  (A) A substantial risk of death. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Services: includes labor, skill, professional service, transportation, telephone, mail, gas, electricity, steam, water, cable television, entertainment subscription service or other public services, accommodations in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admissions to exhibitions, use of vehicles or other movable property, and any other activity or product considered in the ordinary course of business to be a service, regardless of whether it is listed in this subdivision (a)(38) or a specific statute exists covering the same or similar conduct. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• 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: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• 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
• State agency: means any agency of the state created by the general assembly. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Statement: means any representation of fact. See Tennessee Code 39-16-501
• Statement: means any representation of fact. See Tennessee Code 39-16-701
• 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.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Taxable property: means all property subject to ad valorem taxation within the local government, or any portion of the local government, if applicable. See Tennessee Code 9-21-105
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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