Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 2.2 > Subtitle II > Part B > Chapter 41.1 - Virginia Administrative Dispute Resolution Act

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• agency: means any authority, instrumentality, officer, board or other unit of state government empowered by the basic laws to adopt regulations or decide cases. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Authority: means the respective political subdivisions of the Commonwealth created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Board: means the respective boards of directors for the authorities created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Bonds: means any bonds, refunding bonds, notes, debentures, interim certificates, or any bond, grant, revenue anticipation notes or any other evidences of indebtedness or obligation of an authority, whether in temporary or definitive form and whether the interest thereon is exempt from federal income taxation. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Cost: means as applied to a project financed under the provisions of this article, the sum total of all costs reasonable and necessary for carrying out all works and undertakings necessary or incident to accomplish a project, including, but not limited to the cost of all necessary developmental, planning and feasibility studies, surveys, plans and specifications, architectural, engineering, financial, legal or other special services, the cost of acquisition of land and any buildings and improvements thereon, including the discharge of any obligations of the vendor of such land, buildings or improvements, site preparation and development including demolition or removal of existing structures, construction, and reconstruction, furnishing of a project, the reasonable cost of financing incurred in the course of the development of a project, carrying charges during construction to the occupancy date, interest on bonds issued to finance a project to a date subsequent to the estimated date of completion of a project, necessary expenses incurred in connection with the initial occupancy of a project, the cost of reimbursing the Central Capital Planning Fund, established under § 2. See Virginia Code 2.2-2260
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dispute resolution proceeding: means any structured process in which a neutral assists parties to a dispute in reaching a voluntary settlement by means of dispute resolution processes such as mediation, conciliation, facilitation, partnering, fact-finding, neutral evaluation, use of ombudsmen or any other proceeding leading to a voluntary settlement. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• 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.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mediation: means a process in which a neutral facilitates communication between the parties and without deciding the issues or imposing a solution on the parties enables them to understand and resolve their dispute. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Mediation program: means a program of a public body through which mediators or mediation is made available and includes the director, agents and employees of the program. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Mediator: means a neutral who is an impartial third party selected by agreement of the parties to a dispute to assist them in mediation. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Neutral: means an individual who is trained or experienced in conducting dispute resolution proceedings and in providing dispute resolution services. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• 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.
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Project: means any structure, facility, personal property or undertaking that the Authority is authorized to finance, refinance, construct, improve, furnish, equip, maintain, acquire, or operate under the provisions of this article. See Virginia Code 2.2-2260
• Public body: includes any committee, subcommittee, or other entity however designated, of the public body or formed to advise the public body, including those with private sector or citizen members and corporations organized by the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• 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.
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of 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 1-245
• state: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any of its agencies or departments. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.