Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 8 > Chapter 34 - Retirement-Generally

• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member, together with any amount transferred to the account of the member established pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Advisory council: means the traumatic brain injury advisory council established pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 68-55-101
• Affected jurisdiction: means any county or municipality in which all or a portion of a qualifying transportation facility is located. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Age of majority: means eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Agriculture: means :
  (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• AMA guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment: means the most recent version of the American Medical Association's "Guidelines for Assessment of Permanent Medical Impairment" at the time of the performance of any examination or test required under this part. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• 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.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Asbestos: means chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite asbestos, anthophyllite asbestos, actinolite asbestos, asbestiform winchite, asbestiform richterite, asbestiform amphibole minerals, and any of these minerals that have been chemically treated or altered, including all minerals defined as asbestos in 29 CFR 1910 at the time the asbestos action is filed. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• Asbestos action: means a claim for damages or other civil or equitable relief presented in a civil action arising out of, based on or related to the health effects of exposure to asbestos, including loss of consortium, wrongful death, mental or emotional injury, risk or fear of disease or other injury, costs of medical monitoring or surveillance and any other derivative claim made by or on behalf of a person exposed to asbestos or a representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative of that person. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• Asbestos trust: means a government-approved or court-approved trust, qualified settlement fund, compensation fund, or claims facility created as a result of an administrative or legal action, a court-approved bankruptcy, or pursuant to 11 U. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• Ascendant: means an individual who precedes another individual in lineage, in the direct line of ascent from the other individual. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney general: means the attorney general and reporter and any assistant thereto by whatever name known, any district attorney general and any assistant thereto by whatever name called, and any officer or full-time employee of the general assembly or any committee thereof established by statute, who is duly licensed to practice law in Tennessee, whose duty it is to provide facilities for drafting bills or to assist individual legislators in drafting bills or who renders legal advice and services to the members of the general assembly or committees thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Availability payments: means payments by a public entity to an eligible private entity in connection with the development, redevelopment, or operation of a qualifying transportation facility pursuant to a service contract or comprehensive agreement. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Average final compensation: means the average annual earnable compensation of a member during the five (5) consecutive years of the member's creditable service affording the highest such average, or during all of the years in the member's creditable service if less than five (5) years. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Beneficiary: means any person, persons or institution receiving a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided in chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Board-certified: means the medical doctor is currently certified by one of the medical specialty boards approved by either the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Board of Osteopathic Specialties. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Board-certified oncologist: means a medical doctor who is certified in the subspecialty of medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Board-certified pathologist: means a medical doctor who holds primary certification in anatomic pathology or clinical pathology from the American Board of Pathology or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Board-certified pulmonary specialist: means a medical doctor who is certified in the subspecialty of pulmonary medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine or the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Changeable message sign: means an outdoor advertising device that displays a series of messages at intervals by means of digital display or mechanical rotating panels. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Cigarette: means any roll for smoking, whether made wholly or in part of tobacco or any other substance, regardless of size or shape, and whether or not the tobacco or substance is flavored, adulterated or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material except tobacco. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Civil action: means all suits or claims of a civil nature in a court of record, whether cognizable as cases at law or in equity or admiralty. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Claimant: means any of the following:
  (A) The victim. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• 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
• Collateral: means an individual who is related to another individual under the law of intestate succession of this state but who is not the other individual's ascendant or descendant. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
• Commissioner: means any person in office as a member of the public service commission, as prescribed by title 65, chapter 1, prior to June 30, 1996. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of health. See Tennessee Code 68-55-101
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• 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.
• Compensation: means the exchange of anything of value, including money, securities, real property interests, personal property interests, goods or services, promise of future payment, or forbearance of debt. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Competent medical authority: means a medical doctor who meets the following requirements:
  (i) The medical doctor is board-certified in occupational medicine, a board-certified oncologist, a board-certified pathologist, or a board-certified pulmonary specialist. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive agreement: means the comprehensive agreement between the eligible private entity and the responsible public entity required by §. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Conforming: means an outdoor advertising device that was permitted under and conforms to the zoning, size, lighting, and spacing criteria established in accordance with either the current agreement entered into between the commissioner and the secretary of transportation of the United States on or about October 18, 1984, or the original agreement entered into on or about November 11, 1971, as authorized in §. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Consortium: means an organization, association, or other entity comprised of one (1) or more private entities and established for the purpose of entering into a public-private initiative under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County judge: means any person who is, or when such office existed was, a judge of a general sessions court, trial justice court, county chair, county judge, probate judge, or judge of a juvenile and/or domestic relations court, and whose compensation for such judicial service is paid wholly by a county of the state, or any person who is a county attorney who receives regular monthly or quarterly compensation from a county of the state, or any county manager or county administrator who receives regular monthly or quarterly compensation from a county of the state. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• County official: means a county clerk, a clerk of a circuit court, a criminal court, or a probate court, a clerk and master of a chancery court, a clerk of a general sessions court where such general sessions court has an independent clerk who serves such court only, a register of deeds, a county trustee, a sheriff, a county road superintendent elected by a county legislative body, by a county road commission or commissioners, or by popular vote, and an assessor of property, any county commissioner elected by popular vote, serving in a county having a county commission form of government. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Covered compensation: means , with respect to any calendar year, the amount of a member's earnable compensation subject to contributions under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (26 U. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Date of establishment: means the date as of which the retirement system is established as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deception: means the representation that sexual actions are part of or consistent with the patient's treatment by the therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defective condition: means a condition of a product that renders it unsafe for normal or anticipatable handling and consumption. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-5-103
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-55-101
• Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-1-111
• Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-55-501
• Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Descendant: means an individual who follows another individual in lineage, in the direct line of descent from the other individual. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Destroyed: means , with respect to a nonconforming outdoor advertising device, that, in the case of wooden sign structures, sixty percent (60%) or more of the upright supports of a sign structure are physically damaged such that normal repair practices would call for replacement of the broken supports or, in the case of metal sign structures, replacement of at least thirty percent (30%) of the length above ground of each broken, bent, or twisted support. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Determination of value: means a court order determining the fair market value of heirs property under §. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Digital display: means a type of changeable message sign that displays a series of messages at intervals through the electronic coding of lights or light emitting diodes or any other means that does not use or require mechanical rotating panels. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• disabled: means the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve (12) months. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• District: means any emergency communications district created pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 7-86-103
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Earnable compensation: includes , but is not limited to, any bonus or incentive payment. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Employer: means :
  (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Employer: means any person or entity that employs any therapist for the purpose of providing therapy. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• 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}
• Erect: means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish, but does not apply to changes of copy treatment on an existing outdoor advertising device. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Exposed person: means a person whose exposure to silica or mixed dust is the basis for a silicosis claim or mixed dust disease claim under this part. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• extra services: means any duties other than summer school or regular duties. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Facility: means a commercial or industrial facility, or other facility open to the public, that operates with regular business hours on a year-round basis within a building or defined physical space, which may include a structure other than a building, together with any immediately adjacent parking areas. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• fire department: means a department of a municipality, county, or political subdivision, or an organization, agency, or entity that offers its services, for or without pay, for the purpose of suppressing fires, performing rescue services, or for other emergency response purposes. See Tennessee Code 68-102-302
• Firefighter: means a person in the employ of a political subdivision participating under chapter 35, part 2 of this title who is a member of the fire department of such political subdivision, and is trained in firefighting and actively engaged in such work or subject to call for such services, providing such person's primary livelihood is derived from such work. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General employee: means any person who is a state official, including legislative officials elected by the general assembly, or who is employed in the service of, and whose compensation is payable in whole or in part by, the state, including employees under supervision of the state whose compensation is paid, in whole or in part, from federal or other funds, or any person in the employ of a political subdivision participating under chapter 35, part 2 of this title, or of the Tennessee County Services Association, but does not include any teacher, state police officer, wildlife officer, firefighter, police officer, state judge, county judge, attorney general, governor, or county official or public service commissioner, or any person performing services on a contractual or percentage basis. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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}
• 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.
• Health care liability action: means any civil action, including claims against the state or a political subdivision thereof, alleging that a health care provider or providers have caused an injury related to the provision of, or failure to provide, health care services to a person, regardless of the theory of liability on which the action is based. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Health care provider: means :
  (A) A health care practitioner licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under any chapter of title 63 or title 68, including, but not limited to, medical resident physicians, interns, and fellows participating in a training program of one of the accredited medical schools or of one of such medical school's affiliated teaching hospitals in Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Health care provider: means a Tennessee licensed medical doctor (M. See Tennessee Code 68-55-501
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Heirs property: means real property held in tenancy in common that satisfies all of the following requirements as of the filing of a partition action:
  (A) There is no agreement in a record binding all the cotenants that governs the partition of the property. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• 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
• ILO scale: means the system for the classification of chest x-rays set forth in the International Labour Office's "Guidelines for the Use of ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses" 2000 edition, or if amended, the version in effect at the time of the performance of any examination or test on the exposed person required under this part. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• 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.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interim agreement: means an agreement, including a memorandum of understanding or binding preliminary agreement, between the private entity and the responsible public entity that provides for completion of studies and any other activities to advance the development, redevelopment, or operation, or any combination of these activities, of a qualifying transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, codified in United States Code, title 26, as amended. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Interstate system: means that portion of the national system of interstate and defense highways, located within this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be designated, by the commissioner, and approved by the secretary of transportation of the United States, pursuant to title 23 of the United States Code. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Licensee: means a health care provider licensed, authorized, certified, registered, or regulated under title 33, 63, or 68 that is legally responsible for all health care services provided. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• 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.
• Local retirement fund: means any teachers' retirement fund or other arrangement for payment of retirement benefits to teachers, except this retirement system, supported wholly or in part by contributions made by an employer as defined by chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Lung cancer: means a malignant tumor in which the primary site of origin of the cancer is inside the lungs. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Main traveled way: means the traveled way of a highway on which through traffic is carried. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Management company: means an individual or entity that contracts with, or receives a fee from, a licensee to provide any of the following services to or for a licensee:
  (A) Directly hiring or firing the administrator or other managing employees of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Manufacturer: means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered at an established place of business in this state. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Manufacturer: means :
  (A) Any entity that manufactures or otherwise produces cigarettes or causes cigarettes to be manufactured or produced anywhere that the manufacturer intends to be sold in this state, including cigarettes intended to be sold in the United States through an importer. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Manufacturer: means the designer, fabricator, producer, compounder, processor or assembler of any product or its component parts. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Medical advisors: means the physicians, companies, or organizations provided for in part 4 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• member: means a member of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system. See Tennessee Code 68-102-401
• Membership service: means service rendered while a member of the retirement system. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mixed dust: means a mixture of dusts composed of silica and one (1) or more other fibrogenic dusts capable of inducing pulmonary fibrosis if inhaled in sufficient quantity. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Mixed dust disease claim: includes a claim made by or on behalf of any person who has been exposed to mixed dust, or any representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative of that person, for injury, including mental or emotional injury, death, or loss to the person, risk of disease or other injury, costs of medical monitoring or surveillance, or any other effects on the person's health that are caused by the person's exposure to mixed dust. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• 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.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nonconforming: means an outdoor advertising device that does not conform to the zoning, size, lighting, or spacing criteria established by and in accordance with either the current agreement entered into between the commissioner and the secretary of transportation of the United States, or in accordance with the original agreement entered into on or about November 11, 1971, as authorized in §. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Nonmalignant condition: means a condition, other than a diagnosed cancer, that is caused or may be caused by either silica or mixed dust, whichever is applicable. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• 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.
• On-premises device: means a sign:
  (A) That is located within fifty feet (50') of, and on the same parcel of property and on the same side of the highway as, the facility that owns or operates the sign or within fifty feet (50') of, and on the same parcel of property and on the same side of the highway as, the entrance to the parcel of property upon which two (2) or more facilities are located. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Part-time employee: includes any interim teacher who is employed on a temporary basis to teach for a regular teacher who is on unpaid leave. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Partition by sale: means a court-ordered sale of the entire heirs property, whether by auction, sealed bids, or open-market sale conducted under §. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Partition in kind: means the division of heirs property into physically distinct and separately titled parcels. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• 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.
• Passive investor: means an individual or entity that has an ownership interest in a licensee but does not directly participate in the day-to-day decision making or operations of the licensee. See Tennessee Code 29-26-101
• Pathological evidence of silicosis: means a statement by a board-certified pathologist that more than one (1) representative section of lung tissue uninvolved with any other disease process demonstrates a pattern of round silica nodules and birefringent crystals or other demonstration of crystal structures consistent with silica, consisting of well-organized concentric whorls of collagen surrounded by inflammatory cells, in the lung parenchyma and that there is no other more likely explanation for the presence of the fibrosis. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Patient: means a person who has obtained therapy from a therapist. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person: means any individual or governmental entity, corporation, association, organization, nonprofit institution or other entity or such entities' representatives. See Tennessee Code 68-55-501
• Person: means and includes an individual, a partnership, an association, a corporation, or other entity. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physical impairment: means a condition of an exposed person as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Physical or mental impairment: means one which is medically determinable. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Plaintiff: means a person asserting an asbestos action, a decedent if the action is brought through or on behalf of an estate, or a parent or guardian if the action is brought through or on behalf of a minor or an incompetent person. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan year: means the fiscal year commencing July 1. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• 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.
• Pole trailer: means every vehicle without motive power designed to be driven by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads, such as poles, pipes or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Police officer: means a person in the employ of a political subdivision participating under chapter 35, part 2 of this title who is a member of the police department of such political subdivision and is trained in police work and actively engaged in such work. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Premises owner: means a person who owns, in whole or in part, leases, rents, maintains, or controls privately owned lands, ways, or waters, or any buildings and structures on those lands, ways, or waters, and all privately owned and state-owned lands, ways, or waters leased to a private person, firm, or organization, including any buildings and structures on those lands, ways, or waters. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Primary system: means that portion of connected main highways, located within this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be designated by the commissioner, and approved by the secretary of transportation of the United States, pursuant to title 23 of the United States Code, including highways designated as part of the national highway system and highways formerly designated as part of the federal-aid primary system. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Prior class member: means a member who, on the day preceding the date of establishment, shall have been a member of a superseded system and who elects to remain covered by the benefit and contribution provisions of the superseded system, or who fails to elect to become covered by the benefit and contribution provisions of the retirement system applicable to new employees, as the case may be, in accordance with chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Private entity: means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, or other private business entity. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probate court: means the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estates of decedents. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Product: means any tangible object or goods produced. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Product liability action: includes , but is not limited to, all actions based upon the following theories: strict liability in tort. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• 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 defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public school: means any school conducted within the state under the authority and supervision of a duly elected or appointed city or county school board, and any educational institution supported by and under the control of the state. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Public-private initiative: means a contractual arrangement between the responsible public entity and one (1) or more private entities, the terms of which are stated in a public-private agreement, that provides for:
  (A) Acceptance of a private equity contribution, including a money payment, for the right to develop, redevelop, or operate a project or to provide service for a qualified transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Qualifying transportation facility: means one (1) or more transportation facilities developed, redeveloped, or operated by a private entity pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Quality control and quality assurance program: means the laboratory procedures implemented to ensure that operator bias, systematic and nonsystematic methodological errors, and equipment-related problems do not affect the results of the testing. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• 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
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• redevelopment: means the process of replanning, reconstructing, or redesigning a transportation facility, including acquisition, clearance, development, or disposal, or any combination of these activities, of a transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Regular interest: means interest at such rate or rates compounded annually as may be set from time to time by the board of trustees in accordance with §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Relative: means an ascendant, descendant, or collateral or an individual otherwise related to another individual by blood, marriage, adoption, or law of this state other than this part. See Tennessee Code 29-27-302
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Repeatability: means the range of values within which the repeat results of cigarette test trials from a single laboratory will fall ninety-five percent (95%) of the time. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• 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
• Responsible public entity: means a public entity that has the power to develop, redevelop, or operate the applicable transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Retail dealer: means any person, other than a manufacturer or wholesale dealer, engaged in selling cigarettes or tobacco products. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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
• Safety rest area: means an area or site established and maintained within or adjacent to the right-of-way by or under public supervision or control, for the convenience of the traveling public. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Sale: means , in addition to its usual meaning, any sale, use, transfer, exchange, barter, gift or offer for sale and distribution, in any manner or by any means whatsoever. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Sell: means to sell, or to offer or agree to sell. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Seller: includes a retailer, wholesaler, or distributor, and means any individual or entity engaged in the business of selling a product, whether such sale is for resale, or for use or consumption. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• Semitrailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Sexual behavior: means sexual activity of the victim other than the sexual act or acts at issue in the case. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Sexual misconduct: means any of the following, regardless of the consent of the patient:
  (i) Any intrusion into an opening of the patient's body by any part of the therapist's body, or an object used by the therapist to effect an intrusion for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Sign: means an outdoor sign, light, display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing which is designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform any part of the advertising or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main traveled way of an interstate system or primary system. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• 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
• Significant duties: means that the duties are useful in the accomplishment of a job or the operation of a business but also that they have a degree of economic value. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Silica: means a respirable crystalline form of the naturally occurring mineral form of silicon dioxide, including, but not limited to, quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Silica claim: includes a claim made by or on behalf of any person who has been exposed to silica, or any representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative of that person, for injury, including mental or emotional injury, death, or loss to the person, risk of disease or other injury, costs of medical monitoring or surveillance, or any other effects on the person's health that are caused by the person's exposure to silica. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Silicosis: means a lung disease caused by the pulmonary response to inhaled silica. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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 annuity: means annual payments for life derived from contributions by an employer. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State judge: means any person in office as a judge of a court of record in this state, whose salary for the judge's judicial position has been paid during the period of the judge's service wholly from the treasury of the state, including the administrative director of the courts. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State police officer: means any commissioned member of the department of safety, and any agent of the Tennessee bureau of investigation. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• Student: means any person enrolled in a course of study in a school or in a post-secondary educational institution who as a condition of such enrollment is employed in a full-time position. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Substantial contributing factor: means both of the following:
  (i) Exposure to silica or mixed dust is the predominate cause of the physical impairment alleged in the silica claim or mixed dust disease claim, whichever is applicable. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Substantial gainful activity: means the performance of significant duties over a reasonable period of time of work for remuneration or profit or in work of a type generally performed for remuneration or profit. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Substantial occupational exposure to mixed dust: means employment for a cumulative period of at least five (5) years in an industry and an occupation in which, for a substantial portion of a normal work year for that occupation, the exposed person did any of the following:
  (A) Handled mixed dust. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Substantial occupational exposure to silica: means employment for a cumulative period of at least five (5) years in an industry and an occupation in which, for a substantial portion of a normal work year for that occupation, the exposed person did any of the following:
  (A) Handled silica. See Tennessee Code 29-34-303
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superseded system: means , where applicable, the Tennessee state retirement system, the Tennessee teachers' retirement system, the Tennessee judges' retirement system, the retirement system for county paid judges of Tennessee, the attorneys general retirement system of Tennessee, the public service commissioners' retirement system, and the Tennessee retirement system for county officials, any one (1) of them, or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• TBI coordinator: means the person designated by the commissioner pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 68-55-101
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Therapist: means any person who performs therapy regardless of whether the person is licensed by the state. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• Therapy: includes , but is not limited to, marital counseling, substance abuse treatment, and family counseling. See Tennessee Code 29-26-203
• 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.
• Trailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Transportation facility: means any mass transit system intended for shared passenger transport services to the general public, together with any building, structure, appurtenance, utility, transport support facility, transport vehicles, service vehicles, parking facility, or any other facility, structure, vehicle or property needed to operate the transportation facility or provide connectivity for the transportation facility to any other non-mass transit system transportation infrastructure including, but not limited to, interstates, highways, roads, streets, alleys, and sidewalks. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Traveled way: means the portion of a roadway for the movement of vehicles, exclusive of shoulders. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Truck: means every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Trust claims materials: means a final executed proof of claim and all other documents and information related to a claim against an asbestos trust, including claims forms and supplementary materials, affidavits, depositions and trial testimony, work history, medical and health records, documents reflecting the status of a claim against an asbestos trust, and if the asbestos trust claim has settled, all documents relating to the settlement of the asbestos trust claim. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• Trust governance documents: means all documents that relate to eligibility and payment levels for an asbestos trust, including claims payment matrices, trust distribution procedures, or plans for reorganization. See Tennessee Code 29-34-602
• 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
• Unreasonably dangerous: means that a product is dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics, or that the product because of its dangerous condition would not be put on the market by a reasonably prudent manufacturer or seller, assuming that the manufacturer or seller knew of its dangerous condition. See Tennessee Code 29-28-102
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• User fees: means the rates, fees, or other charges imposed by the eligible private entity of a qualifying transportation facility for use of all or a portion of the qualifying transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
• Utility signs: means warning signs, notices, or markers that are customarily erected and maintained for operational and public safety purposes by publicly or privately owned utilities, railroads, ferries, airports, or other entities that provide utility or transportation services. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Visible: means capable of being seen, whether or not readable, without visual aid by a person of normal visual acuity. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
• Wholesale dealer: means any person other than a manufacturer who sells cigarettes or tobacco products to retail dealers or other persons for purposes of resale, and any person who owns, operates or maintains one (1) or more cigarette or tobacco product vending machines in, at or upon premises owned or occupied by any other person. See Tennessee Code 68-102-502
• Wildlife officer: means any commissioned employee of the wildlife resources agency engaged in law enforcement activities on a day-to-day basis. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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
• youth athletic activity: means an athletic activity organized by a city, county, business or nonprofit organization where the majority of the participants are under eighteen (18) years of age, and are engaging in an organized athletic game or competition against another team, club or entity or in practice or preparation for an organized game or competition against another team, club or entity. See Tennessee Code 68-55-501