Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 3 > Chapter 14 - Standards for Contracts Including Privatization Contracts

• 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.
• Agency: means the Agency of Transportation. See
• Agency: means any agency, board, department, commission, committee, or authority of the Executive Branch of State government. See
• 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.
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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.
• Board: means the Transportation Board. See
• Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract for services: means an agreement or combination or series of agreements by which an entity or individual agrees with an agency to provide services as a contractor, rather than as an employee. See
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• 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.
• executive authority: shall include the Governor, and any person performing the functions of governor in a state other than this state. See
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Governor: as used in this subchapter , shall include any person performing the functions of Governor by authority of the law of this State. See
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Lawful custodian: means a parent, guardian, or other person responsible by authority of law for the care, custody, or control of another. See
• Limited liability partnership: means a partnership that has filed a statement of qualification under section 3291 of this title and does not have a similar statement in effect in any other jurisdiction. See
• Magistrate: shall mean any Supreme Court Justice, Superior judge, District judge, or Probate judge. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Oath: shall include affirmation where by law an affirmation may be substituted. See
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Partnership: means an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners a business for profit formed under section 3212 of this title, predecessor law, or comparable law of another jurisdiction and includes for all purposes of the laws of this State a limited liability partnership. See
• Partnership agreement: means the agreement, whether written, oral, or implied, among the partners concerning the partnership, including amendments to the partnership agreement. See
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body politic, including a trustee, receiver, assignee, or other similar representative. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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}
• Privatization contract: means a contract for services valued at $25,000. See
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: means all property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein. See
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Relative: means a parent, stepparent, ancestor, descendant, sibling, uncle, or aunt, including a relative of the same degree through civil marriage or adoption. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See
• Statement: means a statement of partnership authority under section 3223 of this title, a statement of denial under section 3224 of this title, a statement of dissociation under section 3264 of this title, a statement of dissolution under section 3275 of this title, a statement of merger under section 3287 of this title, a statement of qualification under section 3291 of this title, a statement of foreign qualification under section 3302 of this title; or an amendment or cancellation of any of the foregoing. See
• Structure: means any object constructed or installed by man, including buildings, towers, smokestacks, and overhead transmission lines. See
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• 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
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Transfer: includes an assignment, conveyance, lease, mortgage, deed, and encumbrance. See
• 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.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.