Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 65 > Chapter 11 - Highway Crossings

• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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
• Blackmail: means threatening to expose or reveal the identity of another or any material, document, secret or other information that might subject a person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, loss of employment, social status or economic harm. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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
• 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.
• Coercion: means :
  (A) Causing or threatening to cause bodily harm to any person, physically restraining or confining any person or threatening to physically restrain or confine any person. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• Commercial sex act: means :
  (A) Any sexually explicit conduct for which anything of value is directly or indirectly given, promised to or received by any person, which conduct is induced or obtained by coercion or deception or which conduct is induced or obtained from a person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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.
• 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
• Deception: means :
  (A) Creating or confirming another person's impression of an existing fact or past event that is false and that the accused knows or believes to be false. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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.
• 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.
• Financial harm: includes extortion as defined by §. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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
• Forced labor or services: means labor or services that are performed or provided by another person and are obtained or maintained through the defendant's:
  (A) Causing or threatening to cause serious harm to any person. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• Human trafficking offense: means the commission of any act that constitutes the criminal offense of:
  (A) Involuntary labor servitude, under §. See Tennessee Code 39-13-314
• 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.
• Involuntary servitude: means the condition of a person who is compelled by force, coercion or imprisonment and against the person's will to labor for another, whether paid or not. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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.
• 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
• Labor: means work of economic or financial value. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Minor: means any person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
• Minor: means an individual who is less than eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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.
• Obtain: means , in relation to labor or services, to secure performance of labor or services. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• 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
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• 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.
• 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
• Services: means an ongoing relationship between a person and the defendant in which the person performs activities under the supervision of or for the defendant. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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
• Sexually explicit conduct: means actual or simulated:
  (A) Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex. See Tennessee Code 39-13-301
• 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.
• Trafficked person: means a victim of a human trafficking offense. See Tennessee Code 39-13-314
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105