Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 68 > Chapter 3 - Vital Records Act of 1977

• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Application process and procedures: means the criteria and guidelines developed by the department of correction for the establishment of community corrections plans, the granting of funds for programs authorized by this chapter and the monitoring, evaluation and review of programs funded under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Board: means a local community corrections advisory board as established in this chapter. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth: means a certificate issued to record the birth of a stillborn child. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• 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
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of correction. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of health. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Community: includes the county or counties comprising a judicial district as provided in title 16, chapter 2, part 5. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Community corrections plan: means a document prepared by a local community corrections advisory board, endorsed by the county legislative body and submitted to the department of correction in accordance with the requirements set forth in the application process and procedures, which identifies proposed community based programs to be implemented within the county in accordance with the terms of this chapter and justifies the funding of the programs with regard to local need and community support. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• County legislative body: includes the governing legislative body of any county organized under Article XI, §. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Court: means the trial judge exercising sentencing jurisdiction over an eligible offender under this chapter and includes any successor of the trial judge. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dead body: means a human body from the condition of which it reasonably may be concluded that death occurred. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-3-602
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-3-702
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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.
• Fetal death: means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• File: means to present a vital record provided for in this chapter for registration by the office of vital records. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Final disposition: means the burial, interment, cremation, removal from the state or other authorized disposition of a dead body or fetus. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• 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.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• 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.
• Induced termination of pregnancy: means the intentional termination of pregnancy with the intention other than to produce a live-born infant or to remove a dead fetus. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Institution: means any establishment, public or private, that provides inpatient or outpatient medical, surgical or diagnostic care or treatment or nursing, custodial or domiciliary care, or to which persons are committed by law. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• 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.
• Live birth: means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, that, after expulsion or extraction, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
• maternal mortality: means a:
  
  
  1. Pregnancy-associated death. See Tennessee Code 68-3-602
  2. Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  3. Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  4. Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  5. Physician: means a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy pursuant to the laws of this state. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  6. Plan: means the "community corrections plan" defined in subdivision (6). See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
  7. 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.
  8. Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
  9. 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.
  10. Pregnancy-associated death: means the death of a woman while pregnant or within one (1) year of the end of her pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death and regardless of the duration or site of the pregnancy. See Tennessee Code 68-3-602
  11. Pregnancy-related death: means the death of a woman while pregnant or within one (1) year of the end of her pregnancy, regardless of the duration or site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes. See Tennessee Code 68-3-602
  12. Presentence report: A report prepared by a court's probation officer, after a person has been convicted of an offense, summarizing for the court the background information needed to determine the appropriate sentence. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
  13. Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  14. Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  15. Public health council: means the council established in §. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  16. Recipient: includes any entity receiving, directly or indirectly, any financial aid under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
  17. 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
  18. Registration: means the acceptance by the office of vital records and the incorporation of vital records provided for in this chapter into its official records. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  19. Renovation: means the repair, remodeling, alteration or expansion of existing buildings or structures to make them habitable or suitable for program operations and includes the acquisition and installation of necessary initial equipment. See Tennessee Code 40-36-102
  20. 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).
  21. 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
  22. Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  23. Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  27. Stillbirth: means an unintended, intrauterine fetal death after a gestational age of not less than twenty (20) completed weeks or with a weight of three hundred fifty (350) grams or more. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  28. Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  29. Suicide: means a death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with any intent to die because of the result of the behavior. See Tennessee Code 68-3-702
  30. System of vital records: includes the registration, collection, preservation, amendment, and certification of vital records, and the collection of other reports required by this chapter. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  31. Testify: Answer questions in court.
  32. Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  33. Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  34. United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  35. Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
  36. Vital records: means certificates or reports of birth, death, marriage, divorce or annulment and other records related thereto. See Tennessee Code 68-3-102
  37. written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  38. Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105