Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 36 > Chapter 6 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Adult: means any person 60 years of age or older, or any person 18 years of age or older who is incapacitated and who resides in the Commonwealth; provided, however, "adult" may include qualifying nonresidents who are temporarily in the Commonwealth and who are in need of temporary or emergency protective services. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• Adult abuse: means the willful infliction of physical pain, injury or mental anguish or unreasonable confinement of an adult as defined in § 63. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Adult day care center: means any facility that is either operated for profit or that desires licensure and that provides supplementary care and protection during only a part of the day to four or more adults who are aged or infirm or who have disabilities and who reside elsewhere, except (i) a facility or portion of a facility licensed by the State Board of Health or the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and (ii) the home or residence of an individual who cares for only persons related to him by blood or marriage. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Adult foster care: means room and board, supervision, and special services to an adult who has a physical or mental condition. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Board: means the Board of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Building: means a combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, having a roof to form a structure for the use or occupancy by persons or property. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Building Code: means the Uniform Statewide Building Code and building regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant thereto. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Building regulations: means any law, rule, resolution, regulation, ordinance, or code, general or special, or compilation thereof, enacted or adopted by the Commonwealth or any county or municipality, including departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, or other agencies of such state or local governments, relating to construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, repair, maintenance, or use of structures and buildings and installation of equipment therein. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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
• Code provisions: means the provisions of the Uniform Statewide Building Code as adopted and promulgated by the Board and the amendments thereof as adopted and promulgated by the Board from time to time. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of the Department, his designee or authorized representative. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction: means the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or conversion of buildings and structures. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Department: means the State Department of Social Services. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Director: means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Emergency: means (i) that an adult is living in conditions that present a clear and substantial risk of death or immediate and serious physical harm to himself or others or (ii) that an adult has been, within a reasonable period of time, subjected to an act of violence, force, or threat or been subjected to financial exploitation. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
• Equipment: means plumbing, heating, electrical, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, and other mechanical additions or installations. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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.
• 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 building or structure: means a building or structure not used for residential purposes, located on property where farming operations take place, and used primarily for any of the following uses or combination thereof:

  1. See Virginia Code 36-97

• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial exploitation: includes (i) an intentional breach of a fiduciary obligation to an adult to his detriment or an intentional failure to use the financial resources of an adult in a manner that results in neglect of such adult; (ii) the acquisition, possession, or control of an adult's financial resources or property through the use of undue influence, coercion, or duress; and (iii) forcing or coercing an adult to pay for goods or services against his will for another's profit, benefit, or advantage if the adult did not agree, or was tricked, misled, or defrauded into agreeing, to pay for such goods or services. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
• Financial institution staff: means any employee, agent, qualified individual, or representative of a bank, trust company, savings institution, loan association, consumer finance company, credit union, investment company, investment advisor, securities firm, accounting firm, or insurance company. See Virginia Code 63.2-1603
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Local board: means the local board of social services representing one or more counties or cities. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Local building department: means the agency or agencies of any local governing body charged with the administration, supervision, or enforcement of the Building Code and regulations, approval of plans, inspection of buildings, or issuance of permits, licenses, certificates, or similar documents. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Local department: means the local department of social services of any county or city in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Local governing body: means the governing body of any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Municipality: means any city or town in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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.
• Owner: means the owner or owners of the freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, or lessee in control of a building or structure. See Virginia Code 36-97
• 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
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Public assistance: means Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); auxiliary grants to the aged, blind and disabled; medical assistance; energy assistance; food stamps; employment services; child care; and general relief. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Qualified individual: means a trained professional or licensed clinician who is not an employee of the local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency that placed the child in a qualified residential treatment program and is not affiliated with any placement setting in which children are placed by such local board of social services or licensed child-placing agency. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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
• 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).
• Review Board: means the State Building Code Technical Review Board. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Social services: means foster care, adoption, adoption assistance, child-protective services, domestic violence services, or any other services program implemented in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• Special order: means an order imposing an administrative sanction issued to any party licensed pursuant to this title by the Commissioner that has a stated duration of not more than 12 months. See Virginia Code 63.2-100
• 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 agency: means any department, board, bureau, commission, agency, or other unit of state government in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 36-97
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structure: means an assembly of materials forming a construction for occupancy or use, including stadiums, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, radio towers, water tanks, underground and aboveground storage tanks, trestles, piers, wharves, swimming pools, amusement devices, storage bins, and other structures of this general nature but excluding water wells. See Virginia Code 36-97
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• 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.
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.