Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 15.2 > Subtitle I - General Provisions; Charters; Other Forms and Organization of Counties

• Abolished system: means the Virginia Retirement Act, §§ 51-30 through 51-111, repealed by Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly of 1952. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Account: means any deposit or credit account with a bank including demand, time savings passbook, share draft, or like account, other than an account evidenced by a certificate of deposit;

  (2) "Afternoon" means the period of a day between noon and midnight;

  (3) "Banking day" means the part of a day on which a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions, but shall not include Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday;

  (4) "Clearing house" means an association of banks or other payors regularly clearing items;

  (5) "Customer" means a person having an account with a bank or for whom a bank has agreed to collect items, including a bank that maintains an account at another bank;

  (6) "Documentary draft" means any negotiable or nonnegotiable draft with accompanying documents, securities or other papers to be delivered against honor of the draft; or a draft to be presented for acceptance or payment if specified documents, certificated securities (§ 8. See Virginia Code 8.4-104

• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the member's contribution account, all amounts the member may contribute to purchase creditable service, all member contributions contributed by the employer on behalf of the employee, on or after July 1, 1980, except those amounts contributed on behalf of members of the General Assembly who are otherwise retired under the provisions of this chapter, and all interest accruing to these funds. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value when computed upon the basis of actuarial tables adopted by the Board. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• 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.
• Agent: means a person who is employed by any institution of higher education or non-college degree school, whether such institution or school is located within or outside the Commonwealth, to act as an agent, solicitor, procurer, broker, or independent contractor to procure students or enrollees for any such institution or school by solicitation in any form at any place in the Commonwealth other than the office or principal location of such institution or school. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Alcohol: means the product known as ethyl or grain alcohol obtained by distillation of any fermented liquor, rectified either once or more often, whatever the origin, and shall include synthetic ethyl alcohol, but shall not include methyl alcohol and alcohol completely denatured in accordance with formulas approved by the government of the United States. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Alcohol vaporizing device: means any device, machine, or process that mixes any alcoholic beverages with pure oxygen or other gas to produce a vaporized product for the purpose of consumption by inhalation. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Alcoholic beverages: includes alcohol, spirits, wine, and beer, and any one or more of such varieties containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, including mixed alcoholic beverages, and every liquid or solid, powder or crystal, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer and capable of being consumed by a human being. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Annual percentage rate: The cost of credit at a yearly rate. It is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan so borrowers can compare loans. Lenders are required by law to disclose a card account's APR. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• 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.
• Arts venue: means a commercial or nonprofit establishment that is open to the public and in which works of art are sold or displayed. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Associate-degree-granting: means that an associate degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education: includes Richard Bland College and each comprehensive community college. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Authority: means the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority created pursuant to this subtitle. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Average final compensation: means the average annual creditable compensation of a member during his 60 highest consecutive months of creditable service or during the entire period of his creditable service if less than 60 months. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Baccalaureate: means that bachelor's degrees or more advanced degrees, or both, are granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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.
• Bailee: means the person who by a warehouse receipt, bill of lading or other document acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Bank: means any national bank, any bank organized under Chapter 8 (§ 6. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• Beer: means any alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of an infusion or decoction of barley, malt, and hops or of any similar products in drinkable water and containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• 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}
• Beneficiary: means any person entitled to receive benefits under this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• bill in equity: shall mean a complaint in a civil action, as provided in the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia;

  11. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Board: means the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Board: means the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Bond with surety: includes the payment in cash of the full amount of the required bond and, in such case, no surety shall be required. See Virginia Code 1-205
• Bonds: means any bonds, interim certificates, notes, debentures, or other obligations of the authority issued pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Bottle: means any vessel intended to contain liquids and having a capacity of not more than 43 ounces. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Bus: means a motor vehicle that (i) is operated by a common carrier licensed under Chapter 20 of Title 46. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Cardholder: means the person or organization named on the face of a credit card to whom or for whose benefit the credit card was issued by an issuer. See Virginia Code 6.2-424
• Carrier: means a person that issues a bill of lading. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Certificate: includes a diploma. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Certificate of limited partnership: means the certificate referred to in § 50-73. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Chief executive officer: includes the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, the Chancellor of the University of Virginia's College at Wise, the Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, and the president of each other public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• City: means both cities and counties, and city-specific terms such as "mayor" shall be deemed to also include the equivalent county term. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• 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.
• Club: means any private nonprofit corporation or association which is the owner, lessee, or occupant of an establishment operated solely for a national, social, patriotic, political, athletic, or other like purpose, but not for pecuniary gain, the advantages of which belong to all of the members. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• College: means any associate-degree-granting institution of higher education or institution of higher education at which a bachelor's degree is the most advanced degree that is granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Commercial lifestyle center: means a mixed-use commercial development covering a minimum of 10 acres of land and having at least 100,000 square feet of retail space featuring national specialty chain stores and a combination of dining, entertainment, office, residential, or hotel establishments located in a physically integrated outdoor setting that is pedestrian friendly and that is governed by a commercial owners' association that is responsible for the management, maintenance, and operation of the common areas thereof. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive community college: means an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education governed by the State Board that offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:

  1. See Virginia Code 23.1-100

• Consignee: means the person named in a bill to whom or to whose order the bill promises delivery. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Consignor: means the person named in a bill as the person from whom the goods have been received for shipment. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Container: means any barrel, bottle, carton, keg, vessel, or other receptacle used for holding alcoholic beverages. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: means any agreement of an authority with or for the benefit of an obligee whether contained in a resolution, trust indenture, mortgage, lease, bond or other instrument. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Contribution: means any cash, property, services rendered, or a promissory note or other binding obligation to contribute cash or property or to perform services, which a partner contributes to a limited partnership in his capacity as a partner. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Control: means (i) ownership by a person of 25 percent or more of the voting stock of a trust company; (ii) control as defined in the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U. See Virginia Code 6.2-1013
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Council: means the governing body of a city or town. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Court: means any court vested with appropriate jurisdiction under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
• Courts of record: means the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and the circuit courts. See Virginia Code 1-212
• Credit card: means any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, credit plate, or by any other name, issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services, or any other thing of value. See Virginia Code 6.2-424
• Credit union: means any credit union organized under Chapter 13 (§ 6. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• Creditable compensation: means the full compensation payable annually to an employee working full time in his covered position. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Creditable service: means prior service as set forth in § 51. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Degree: means any earned award at the associate, baccalaureate, graduate, first professional, or specialist levels that represents satisfactory completion of the requirements of a program or course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Degree credit: means any earned credits awarded for successful completion of the requirements of a course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level that may be used toward completion of a certificate or degree. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Delivery order: means a record that contains an order to deliver goods directed to a warehouseman, carrier or other person who in the ordinary course of business issues warehouse receipts or bills of lading. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• distance learning modality: means any course offered by a postsecondary school for which the primary mode of instructional delivery is by television, videocassette or disc, film, radio, computer, or other telecommunications devices. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Document: means document of title as defined in the general definitions in Title 8. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Domestic partnership: means an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners a business for profit formed under § 50-73. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Draft: means a draft as defined in § 8. See Virginia Code 8.4-104
• Drawee: means a person ordered in a draft to make payment;

  (9) "Item" means an instrument or a promise or order to pay money handled by a bank for collection or payment. See Virginia Code 8.4-104

• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Emergency: means an occurrence or condition, temporary in nature, in which police and other public safety officials and locally available national guard forces are, or may reasonably be expected to be, unable to cope with substantial and imminent danger to the public safety. See Virginia Code 44-54.1
• Employee: means any teacher, state employee, officer, or employee of a locality participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Employer: means the Commonwealth in the case of a state employee, the local public school board in the case of a teacher, or the political subdivision participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• En banc: In the bench or "full bench." Refers to court sessions with the entire membership of a court participating rather than the usual quorum. U.S. courts of appeals usually sit in panels of three judges, but may expand to a larger number in certain cases. They are then said to be sitting en banc.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Entity: includes any domestic or foreign limited partnership or other business entity, any estate or trust, and any state, the United States, and any foreign government. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Entity: means any corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Establishment: means any place where alcoholic beverages of one or more varieties are lawfully manufactured, sold, or used. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Event of withdrawal of a general partner: means an event that causes a person to cease to be a general partner as provided in § 50-73. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Farm winery: means (i) an establishment or cooperative located in the Commonwealth on land zoned agricultural that has (a) a vineyard, orchard, or similar growing area that produces fruits or other agricultural products used to manufacture the wine of such farm winery, subject to the requirements set forth in § 4. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: includes a guardian, committee, trustee, executor, conservator, or personal representative. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiduciary: shall include any one or more of the following:

  a. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Finance charge: has the meaning assigned to it in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Regulation Z, 12 C. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Financial institution: means any bank, trust company, savings institution, industrial loan association, consumer finance company, or credit union. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Foreign limited partnership: means a partnership formed under the laws of any state or jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth and having as partners one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Foreign partnership: means an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners of a business for profit formed under the laws of any state or jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth, and includes, for all purposes of the laws of the Commonwealth, a foreign registered limited liability partnership. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• General partner: means a person who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a general partner in accordance with the partnership agreement and named in the certificate of limited partnership as a general partner. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract of storage or transportation. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Gourmet brewing shop: means an establishment which sells to persons to whom wine or beer may lawfully be sold, ingredients for making wine or brewing beer, including packaging, and rents to such persons facilities for manufacturing, fermenting and bottling such wine or beer. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Government: means the Commonwealth and the federal government and any subdivision, agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of either of them. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Government store: means a store established by the Authority for the sale of alcoholic beverages. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• institution: means any person or other entity, other than a public institution of higher education or any other entity authorized to issue bonds pursuant to Chapter 11 (§ 23. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interdicted person: means a person to whom the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by order pursuant to this subtitle. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• 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}
• Internet wine and beer retailer: means a person who owns or operates an establishment with adequate inventory, shelving, and storage facilities, where, in consideration of payment, Internet or telephone orders are taken and shipped directly to consumers and which establishment is not a retail store open to the public. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Intoxicated: means a condition in which a person has drunk enough alcoholic beverages to observably affect his manner, disposition, speech, muscular movement, general appearance, or behavior. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Issuer: means the business organization or financial institution or its duly authorized agent that issues a credit card. See Virginia Code 6.2-424
• Issuer: means a bailee who issues a document except that in relation to an unaccepted delivery order it means the person who orders the possessor of goods to deliver. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Joint Rules Committee: means those members of the House of Delegates and the Senate designated by the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules, respectively, to meet with each other and to act jointly on behalf of the Committee on Rules for each house. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• 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.
• Jurisdiction of formation: means the state or country the law of which includes the organic law governing a domestic or foreign limited partnership or other business entity. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed: means the holding of a valid license granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Licensee: means any person to whom a license has been granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Limited partner: means a person who has been admitted to a limited partnership as a limited partner in accordance with the partnership agreement. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Liquidating trustee: means a person, other than a general partner, but including a limited partner, who carries out the winding up of a limited partnership as provided in this chapter. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Loan: means a loan or forbearance of money. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• Local officer: means the treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, or sheriff of any county or city, or deputy or employee of any such officer. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Markup: The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.
• Medical Board: means the boards composed of physicians or other health care professionals as provided by this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Membership service: means service as an employee rendered while a contributing member of the Retirement System except as provided in this chapter. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• military service: as used in this title , shall include the activities of the members of the Virginia Defense Force while in training duty and state active duty status. See Virginia Code 44-54.4
• Mineral: means ore, rock, and any other solid homogeneous crystalline chemical element or compound that results from the inorganic processes of nature other than coal. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• Mining: means the breaking or disturbing of the surface soil or rock in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals or any activity constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal of minerals so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• Mining operation: means any area included in an approved plan of operation. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• 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}
• Non-college degree school: includes academic-vocational non-college degree schools and vocational non-college degree schools. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Nondegree credit: means any earned credits awarded for successful completion of the requirements of a course of study or instruction beyond the secondary school level that may be used toward completion of a certificate but may not be used to earn a degree. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Nonprofit private institution of higher education: means any postsecondary school, as that term is defined in § 23. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Normal retirement date: means a member's sixty-fifth birthday. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Notary: means notary public. See Virginia Code 1-226
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
• obligee: includes any bondholder, trustee or trustees for any bondholders, any lessor demising property to the authority used in connection with a hospital project or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof, and the United States of America when it is a party to any contract with the authority. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• open-end credit plan: means consumer credit extended by a creditor under a plan in which: (i) the creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions; (ii) the creditor may impose a finance charge from time to time on an outstanding unpaid balance; and (iii) the amount of credit that may be extended to the consumer during the term of the plan, up to any limit set by the creditor, is generally made available to the extent that any outstanding balance is repaid. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• Operator: means any individual, corporation or corporation officer, firm, joint venture, partnership, business trust, association, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, or any legal entity that is engaged in mining. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• Organic law: means the statute governing the internal affairs of a domestic or foreign limited partnership or eligible entity. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Other business entity: means a domestic or foreign stock corporation, nonstock corporation, business trust, limited liability company, or partnership. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Out-of-state: means formed, chartered, established, or incorporated outside of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Partner: means a limited or general partner. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• 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 agreement: means any valid agreement, written or oral, of the partners as to the affairs of a limited partnership and the conduct of its business. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Partnership interest: means a partner's share of the profits and losses of a limited partnership and the right to receive distributions of partnership assets. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Payment device: means any credit card, any "accepted card or other means of access" as defined in 15 U. See Virginia Code 6.2-424
• 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: means an individual, partnership, limited partnership (domestic or foreign), trust, estate, association, corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Person under a disability: shall include :

  a. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

• Personal estate: includes chattels real and such other estate as, upon the death of the owner intestate, would devolve upon his personal representative. See Virginia Code 1-233
• Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
• 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.
• 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:
• Political subdivision: means any county, city, or town, any political entity, subdivision, branch, or unit of the Commonwealth, or any commission, public authority, or body corporate created by or under an act of the General Assembly specifying the powers, privileges, or authority capable of exercise by the commission, public authority, or body corporate. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Postsecondary school: includes programs of academic, vocational, and continuing professional education, except courses or programs of continuing professional education set forth in subdivision B 4 of § 23. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Principal: means any person who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls (i) 10 percent or more of the outstanding stock of a stock corporation or (ii) a 10 percent or greater interest in a nonstock corporation or a limited liability company. See Virginia Code 6.2-1013
• Principal office: means the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign limited partnership are located. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to becoming a member of the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• 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.
• Program: means a curriculum or course of study in a discipline or interdisciplinary area that leads to a degree or certificate. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• project: means any and all medical facilities and approaches thereto and appurtenances thereof. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Proprietary: means privately owned, privately managed, and corporately structured as a for-profit entity. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Proprietary private institution of higher education: means any postsecondary school, as that term is defined in § 23. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Public corporation: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any political subdivision thereof or any incorporated municipality therein or any public agency of the Commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof or of any municipality therein. See Virginia Code 1-219.1
• Public facilities: means (i) airports, landing fields, and air navigation facilities; (ii) educational facilities; (iii) flood control, bank and shore protection, watershed protection, and dams; (iv) hospital facilities; (v) judicial and court facilities; (vi) correctional facilities, including jails and penitentiaries; (vii) library facilities; (viii) military installations; (ix) parks so designated by the Commonwealth or by the locality in its comprehensive plan; (x) properties of historical significance so designated by the Commonwealth; (xi) law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and rescue facilities; (xii) sanitary sewer, water or stormwater facilities; (xiii) transportation facilities including highways, roads, streets, and bridges, traffic signals, related easements and rights-of-way, mass transit, ports, and any components of federal, state, or local transportation facilities; (xiv) waste management facilities for hazardous, radioactive, or other waste; (xv) office facilities occupied by a public corporation; and (xvi) such other facilities that are necessary to the construction, maintenance, or operation of a public facility as listed in clauses (i) through (xv) and directly related thereto. See Virginia Code 1-219.1
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public place: means any place, building, or conveyance to which the public has, or is permitted to have, access, including restaurants, soda fountains, hotel dining areas, lobbies and corridors of hotels, and any park, place of public resort or amusement, highway, street, lane, or sidewalk adjoining any highway, street, or lane. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Reclamation: means the restoration or conversion of disturbed land to a stable condition that minimizes or prevents adverse disruption and the injurious effects of such disruption and presents an opportunity for further productive use if such use is reasonable. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• 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 Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Refuse: means waste material resulting from a mineral mining operation. See Virginia Code 45.2-1300
• Registered limited liability partnership: means a limited partnership or general partnership formed under the laws of the Commonwealth that is registered under § 50-73. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• Remainderman: One entitled to the remainder of an estate after a particular reserved right or interest, such as a life tenancy, has expired.
• 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).
• Requesting state: means the state whose governor requests assistance in coping with an emergency. See Virginia Code 44-54.1
• Residence: means any building or part of a building or structure where a person resides, but does not include any part of a building that is not actually and exclusively used as a private residence, nor any part of a hotel or club other than a private guest room thereof. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Responding state: means the state furnishing aid, or requested to furnish aid. See Virginia Code 44-54.1
• Restaurant: means , for a wine and beer license or a limited mixed beverage restaurant license, any establishment provided with special space and accommodation, where, in consideration of payment, meals or other foods prepared on the premises are regularly sold. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Retirement allowance: means the retirement payments to which a member is entitled. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Retirement System: means the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Sangria: means a drink consisting of red or white wine mixed with some combination of sweeteners, fruit, fruit juice, soda, or soda water that may also be mixed with brandy, triple sec, or other similar spirits. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Savings institution: means any savings institution, as defined in § 6. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• sealing: means to (i) restricting dissemination of criminal history record information contained in the Central Criminal Records Exchange, including any records relating to an arrest, charge, or conviction, in accordance with the purposes set forth in § 19. See Virginia Code 19.2-392.5
• sell: includes soliciting or receiving an order for; keeping, offering or exposing for sale; peddling, exchanging or bartering; or delivering otherwise than gratuitously, by any means, alcoholic beverages. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Service: means service as an employee. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Sheriff: shall include deputy sheriffs and such other persons designated in § 15. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
• Shipper: means a person that enters into a contract of transportation with a carrier. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Silt: means fine particles resulting from a mineral mining operation, suspended in or deposited by water. See Virginia Code 45.2-1300
• Site: means a location in the Commonwealth where a postsecondary school (i) offers at least one course on an established schedule and (ii) enrolls at least two individuals who are not members of the same household, regardless of the presence or absence of administrative capability at such location. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• Special agent: means an employee of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority whom the Board has designated as a law-enforcement officer pursuant to § 4. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Special event: means an event sponsored by a duly organized nonprofit corporation or association and conducted for an athletic, charitable, civic, educational, political, or religious purpose. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Spirits: means any beverage that contains alcohol obtained by distillation mixed with drinkable water and other substances, in solution, and includes, among other things, brandy, rum, whiskey, and gin, or any one or more of the last four named ingredients, but shall not include any such liquors completely denatured in accordance with formulas approved by the United States government. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Spoil: means any overburden or other material removed from its natural state in the process of mining. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
• State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Virginia Code 50-73.1
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206
• State Board: means the State Board for Community Colleges. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• State employee: means any person who is regularly employed full time on a salaried basis, whose tenure is not restricted as to temporary or provisional appointment, in the service of, and whose compensation is payable, no more often than biweekly, in whole or in part, by the Commonwealth or any department, institution, or agency thereof. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• Subordinate mortgage or deed of trust: means a mortgage or deed of trust that is subject to a prior mortgage or deed of trust in existence at the time of the making of the loan secured by such subordinate mortgage or deed of trust. See Virginia Code 6.2-300
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Supervisor: means a member of the board of supervisors of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Teacher: means any person who is regularly employed full time on a salaried basis as a professional or clerical employee of a county, city, or other local public school board. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
• 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
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• Trust company: means a corporation, including an affiliated trust company, that is authorized to engage in the trust business under Article 2 (§ 6. See Virginia Code 6.2-1000
• Trust indenture: includes instruments pledging the revenues of real or personal properties but not conveying such properties or conferring a right to foreclose and cause a sale thereof. See Virginia Code 15.2-5301
• Trustee: means a trustee under a probated will or an inter vivos trust instrument. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
• 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 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• University: means any baccalaureate institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-213
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Voter: means a qualified voter as defined in § 24. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Warehouseman: is a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
• Water: means water used in a mining operation. See Virginia Code 45.2-1300
• Wine: includes any wine to which wine spirits have been added, as provided in the Internal Revenue Code, to make products commonly known as "fortified wine" which do not exceed an alcohol content of 21 percent by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.