Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 5 > Article 10 - West Virginia Public Employees Retirement Act

• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensations of a member and credited to his or her individual account in the members' deposit fund, together with regular interest on the contributions. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Accumulated net benefit: means the aggregate amount of all benefits paid to or on behalf of a retired member. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value computed upon the basis of a mortality table and regular interest adopted by the board of trustees from time to time: . See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Adjournment sine die: The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or the two-year session of legislature.
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• 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.
• ALI: means a telecommunications network capability that enables the automatic display of information defining the geographical location of the telephone used to place a wireless enhanced 911 call. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• ANI: means a telecommunications network capability that enables the automatic display of the telephone number used to place a wireless enhanced 911 call. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Annuity: means an annual amount payable by the retirement system throughout the life of a person. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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.
• Annuity reserve: means the present value of all payments to be made to a retirant or beneficiary of a retirant on account of any annuity, computed upon the basis of mortality and other tables of experience, and regular interest, adopted by the board of trustees from time to time. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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.
• Applicant: means a person who initiates an application or proposal. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Application: means an unsolicited filing for a cable franchise. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• 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.
• 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-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• average weekly wage in West Virginia: as used in this chapter , have the meaning and shall be computed as set forth in section fourteen of this article except for the purpose of computing temporary total disability benefits for part-time employees pursuant to the provisions of section six-d of this article. See West Virginia Code 23-4-6
• 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.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Basic cable service: means any service tier which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• 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 which shall include an irrevocable special needs trust, as that term is defined in this section, for the benefit of one individual beneficiary and which trust terminates upon the death of such individual with no further annuity benefits being payable, except a retirant, who is entitled to, or will be entitled to, an annuity or other benefit payable by the retirement system. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Billing cycle: shall mean a period of time during the course of which a utility either bills for or measures, by meter- reading or any other means, the usage of its utility services by all of its customers a single time. See West Virginia Code 24-2A-4
• billing month: shall mean the calendar month to which that billing month correlates under section one of this article. See West Virginia Code 24-2A-4
• board: means the Board of Trustees of the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Board: means the commercial hazardous waste management facility siting board established pursuant to section three, article five of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22C-6-2
• Board: means the Shallow Gas Well Review Board provided for in section four of this article. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Cable operator: means any person or group of persons: (A) Who provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in the cable system. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Cable service: means : (A) The one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming or other programming service. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Cable system: means any facility within this state consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service which includes video programming and which is provided to multiple subscribers within a community, but does not include: (A) A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Chair: means the chair of the Shallow Gas Well Review Board provided for in section four of this article. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Civil action: means any action or appeal from an action filed by any current or former inmate or his or her personal representative with respect to conditions of confinement, including, but not limited to, petitions for extraordinary writs, civil actions under 42 U. See West Virginia Code 25-1A-1
• CMRS provider: means cellular licensees, broadband personal communications services (PCS) licensees and specialized mobile radio (SMR) providers, as those terms are defined by the Federal Communications Commission, which offer on a post-paid or prepaid basis or via a combination of those two methods, real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network and includes resellers of any commercial mobile radio service. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Commercial hazardous waste management facility: means any hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility which accepts hazardous waste, as identified or listed by the director of the Division of Environmental Protection under article eighteen, chapter . See West Virginia Code 22C-6-2
• Commission: means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Commission: means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Commission: means the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission provided for in section four, article nine of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Commission: means the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and "commissioner" means the Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner as provided for in §. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Commissioner: means the Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner provided for in section four, article nine of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of the Division of Corrections. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of the Division of Corrections. See West Virginia Code 25-6-3
• Committee substitute: Short for committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.
• Common carrier by motor vehicle: means any person who undertakes, whether directly or by lease or any other arrangement, to transport passengers or property, or any class or classes of property, for the general public over the highways of this state by motor vehicles for hire, whether over regular or irregular routes, including such motor vehicle operations of carriers by rail, water, or air, and of express or forwarding agencies, and leased or rented motor vehicles, with or without drivers. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• 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 remuneration paid a member by a participating public employer for personal services rendered by the member to the participating public employer. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive plan: means a plan pertaining to the installing, modifying or replacing of telephone switching equipment. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract carrier by motor vehicle: means any person not included within the definition of "common carrier by motor vehicle" who under special and individual contracts or agreements, and whether directly or by lease or any other arrangement, transports passengers or property over the highways in this state by motor vehicles for hire. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Contracting agency: means the appropriate governmental agency with the authority to enter into a contract with a prison vendor for correctional services. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Contributing service: means service rendered by a member within this state and for which the member made contributions to a public retirement system account of this state, to the extent credited him or her as provided by this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Correctional Center Nursery Program: means the program authorized by this article. See West Virginia Code 25-1B-1
• Correctional facility: means any county jail, regional jail or any facility operated by the Division of Corrections, the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority or Division of Juvenile Services for the confinement of inmates. See West Virginia Code 25-1A-1
• Correctional services: means the following functions, services and activities, when provided within a prison or otherwise:

  (1) Design and modification or construction of prison facilities. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3

• Correlative rights: means the reasonable opportunity of each person entitled thereto to recover and receive without waste the gas in and under a tract or tracts, or the equivalent thereof. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Correlative rights: means the reasonable opportunity of each person entitled thereto to recover and receive without waste the oil and gas in and under his or her tract or tracts, or the equivalent thereof. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• County commission: means the commissioners composing the county commission in pursuance of section nine, article IX of the Constitution of this state within whose jurisdiction there exists a cable system or where such cable system is hereafter constructed, operated, acquired or extended. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• County court: includes any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Credited service: means the sum of a member's prior service credit, military service credit, workers' compensation service credit, and contributing service credit standing to his or her credit as provided in this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Customer: means any person, firm, corporation, municipality, public service district, or any other entity who purchases a product or services of any utility and shall include any person, firm, corporation, municipality, public service district, or any other entity who purchases the services or product for resale. See West Virginia Code 24-1-2
• Damage: means any impact or contact with or weakening of the support for, or the partial or complete destruction of, an underground facility, its appurtenances, protective casing, coating, or housing, which, according to the operation practices of the operator or state or federal regulation, requires repair or replacement. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Deep well: means any well, other than a shallow well, deep horizontal well, or a coalbed methane well, drilled to a formation below the top of the uppermost member of the "Onondaga Group". See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• demolition: means any operation by which a structure or mass of material is wrecked, razed, rendered, moved, or removed by means of any tools, equipment or discharge of explosives which could damage underground facilities: Provided, That "demolish" and "demolition" do not include earth-disturbing activities authorized pursuant to the provisions of §. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Dependent: as used in this chapter , means a widow, widower, child under eighteen years of age, or under twenty-five years of age when a full-time student as provided in this section, invalid child or posthumous child, who, at the time of the injury causing death, is dependent, in whole or in part, for his or her support upon the earnings of the employee, stepchild under eighteen years of age, or under twenty-five years of age when a full-time student as provided in this section, child under eighteen years of age legally adopted prior to the injury causing death, or under twenty-five years of age when a full-time student as provided in this section, father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, who, at the time of the injury causing death, is dependent, in whole or in part, for his or her support upon the earnings of the employee. See West Virginia Code 23-4-10
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means the director of the gas pipeline safety section of the commission. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Director: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection as established in article one, chapter . See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Director: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and "chief" means the Chief of the Office of Oil and Gas. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• 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:
• Division: means the state Department of Environmental Protection provided for in chapter twenty-two of this code. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Division: means the Division of Corrections of the department of public safety of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Division: means Division of Corrections. See West Virginia Code 25-6-3
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Drilling unit: means the acreage on which the board decides one well may be drilled under section ten of this article. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Driveaway operation: means an operation in which any vehicle or vehicles, operated singly or in lawful combinations, new or used, not owned by the transporting motor carrier, constitute the commodity being transported. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Eligible offender: means eligible offender as defined in section four of this article. See West Virginia Code 25-6-3
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Emergency: means :

  (1) A condition constituting a clear and present danger to life, health, or property by reason of escaping toxic, corrosive, or explosive product, oil or oil-gas, or natural gas hydrocarbon product, exposed wires, or other breaks or defects in an underground facility. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2

• Emergency service provider: means any emergency services organization or public safety unit. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Emergency services organization: means the organization established under article five, chapter . See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Emergency substitute carrier: means a common carrier by motor vehicle or a contract carrier by motor vehicle that is authorized by the Public Service Commission to provide service on a temporary basis outside of its certificated territory or its contract because of commission suspension of a motor carrier certificate of convenience and necessity, or contract carrier by motor vehicle permit. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Emergency telecommunicator: means a professional telecommunicator meeting the training requirements set forth in §. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Emergency telephone system: means a telephone system which through normal telephone service facilities automatically connects a person dialing the primary emergency telephone number to an established public agency answering point, but does not include an enhanced emergency telephone system. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Employee: means any person who serves regularly as an officer or employee, full-time, on a salary basis, whose tenure is not restricted as to temporary or provisional appointment, in the service of, and whose compensation is payable, in whole or in part, by any political subdivision, or an officer or employee whose compensation is calculated on a daily basis and paid monthly or on completion of assignment, including technicians and other personnel employed by the West Virginia National Guard whose compensation, in whole or in part, is paid by the federal government: . See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Employer error: means an omission, misrepresentation, or deliberate act in violation of relevant provisions of the West Virginia Code or of the West Virginia Code of State Regulations or the relevant provisions of both the West Virginia Code and of the West Virginia Code of State Regulations by the participating public employer that has resulted in an underpayment or overpayment of contributions required. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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.
• Equipment operator: means any individual in physical control of powered equipment or explosives when being used to perform excavation work or demolition work. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• 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.
• 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.
• excavation: means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment, or explosives, and includes, without limitation, boring, backfilling, grading, trenching, trenchless technology, digging, ditching, dredging, drilling, auguring, tunneling, moleing, scraping, cable or pipe plowing and driving, wrecking, razing, rendering, moving, or removing any structure or mass of material, but does not include underground or surface mining operations or related activities or the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes or for domestic gardening. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Excavator: means any person intending to engage or engaged in excavation or demolition work. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Exempt carrier: means any person operating a motor vehicle exempt from the provisions of §. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Facility: includes all real property, antennas, poles, supporting structures, wires, cables, conduits, amplifiers, instruments, appliances, fixtures and other personal property used by a cable operator in providing service to its subscribers. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• facility: means any minimum or medium or maximum adult correctional institution operated under the authority of the division or of a political subdivision of this state, whether obtained by purchase, lease, construction, reconstruction, restoration, improvement, alteration, repair, or other means. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Final average salary: means either of the following: . See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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.
• franchise: means a nonexclusive initial authorization or renewal thereof issued pursuant to this chapter, whether the authorization is designated as a franchise, permit, order, contract, agreement or otherwise, which authorizes the construction or operation of a cable system. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Franchising authority: means a municipality, a county commission or the Public Service Commission empowered by federal, state or local law to grant a cable franchise. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gas: means natural gas, flammable gas or gas which is toxic or corrosive. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Gas: means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil in subdivision (15) of this section. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Gas: means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil as that term is defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Gas operator: means any person who owns or has the right to develop, operate and produce gas from a pool and to appropriate the gas produced therefrom either for that person or for that person and others. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing body: means the municipal body charged with the authority and responsibility of enacting ordinances of the municipality, as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 24-1-2
• 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}
• 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.
• Hazardous liquid: means :

  (a) Petroleum or any petroleum product. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2

• Hazardous waste management facility: means any facility including land and structures, appurtenances, improvements and equipment used for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous wastes, which accepts hazardous waste for storage, treatment or disposal. See West Virginia Code 22C-6-2
• Head end device: means a device located on the lead locomotive of a railroad train designed to receive information from the rear end device. See West Virginia Code 24-3-1a
• Horizontal drilling: means a method of drilling a well for the production of oil and gas that is intended to maximize the length of wellbore that is exposed to the formation and in which the wellbore is initially vertical but is eventually curved to become horizontal, or nearly horizontal, to be in a particular geologic formation. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Horizontal well: means an oil and gas well, other than a coalbed methane well, where the wellbore is initially drilled using a horizontal drilling method. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Independent producer: means a producer of crude oil or natural gas whose allowance for depletion is determined under Section 613A of the federal Internal Revenue Code in effect on July 1, 1997. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• 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.
• Inmate: means any person confined in a correctional facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for or adjudicated delinquent for violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release or a diversionary program. See West Virginia Code 25-1A-1
• Inmate: means an individual sentenced to incarceration by a court or contracting agency. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Institution of higher education: means an academic college or university accredited by the north central association of colleges and schools. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• 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}
• Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, codified at Title 26 of the United States Code. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Interstate transmission facilities: means facilities used in the transportation of gas which are subject to the jurisdiction of the federal power commission under the act of Congress known as the Natural Gas Act. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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.
• Just and equitable share of production: means , as to each person, an amount of gas in the same proportion to the total gas production from a well as that person'. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Laws of the state: includes the Constitution of the State of West Virginia and the Constitution of the United States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Limited credited service: means service by employees of the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority, in the employment of West Virginia University, during a period when the employee made contributions to another retirement system, as required by West Virginia University, and did not make contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System: . See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Luxury limousine service: means passenger motor carrier service by pre-arranged appointment with a minimum charge of no less than $60. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Mainline: means a railroad track extending through railroad yards and between stations which must not be occupied without authority or protection. See West Virginia Code 24-3-1a
• Medical examination: means an in-person or virtual examination of a member's physical or mental health, or both, by a physician or physicians selected or approved by the board. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Member: means any person who has accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit fund. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Member: means a member of the one-call system as authorized by this article. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor carrier: includes both a common carrier by motor vehicle and a contract carrier by motor vehicle. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Motor vehicle: means , and includes, any automobile, truck, tractor, truck-tractor, trailer, semitrailer, motorbus, taxicab, any self-propelling motor-driven motor vehicle, or any combination thereof used upon any public highway in this state for the purpose of transporting persons or property. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Municipality: means a city, county or any other political subdivision of the state. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Municipality: means any municipal corporation duly chartered in the State of West Virginia within whose jurisdiction there exists a cable system or where such cable system is hereafter constructed, operated, acquired or extended. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• NARUC: means the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Natural gas liquids: means the liquid hydrocarbons removed from the natural gas through the process of fractionation or condensation. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• oath: shall be deemed to include an affirmation and the word "swear" or "sworn" to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn affirmation. See West Virginia Code 2-2-7
• 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.
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Oil: means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, which are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and which are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Oil: means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, which are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and which are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• oil and gas: means "oil or gas or both". See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• On site: means the location for disposal of hazardous waste including the hazardous waste generated at the location of disposal or generated at some location other than the location of disposal. See West Virginia Code 22C-6-2
• One-call system: means a communication system that receives notification from excavators of intended excavation work and prepares and transmits such notification to operators of underground facilities in accordance with this article. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Operator: means any owner of the right to develop, operate, and produce oil and gas from a pool and to appropriate the oil and gas produced therefrom, either for that person or for that person and others. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Operator: means any person who operates an underground facility. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Other programming service: means information that a cable operator makes available to all subscribers generally. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: when used with reference to any coal seam, includes any person or persons who own, lease or operate the coal seam. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Participating public employer: means the State of West Virginia, any board, commission, department, institution, or spending unit, and includes any agency created by rule of the Supreme Court of Appeals having full-time employees, which for the purposes of this article is considered a department of state government. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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: means and includes any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint-stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Person: means any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, state, municipality, cooperative association or joint-stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or personal representative thereof. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Person: means an individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation or governmental agency. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Person: means any natural person, corporation, firm, partnership, partnership association, venture, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary or other representative of any kind, and includes any government or any political subdivision or any agency thereof. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Person: means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary or other representative of any kind, and includes any government or any political subdivision or any agency thereof. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Person: means any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, state agency, county, municipality, cooperative association, or joint stock association, and any trustee, receiver, assignee, agency, or personal representative thereof. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Pipeline company: means a person engaged in the operation of pipeline facilities or the transportation of gas or hazardous liquids subject to the provisions of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Pipeline facilities: means , without limitation, new and existing pipe, pipe rights-of-way and any equipment, facility, or building used in the transportation of gas or the treatment of gas during the course of transportation, or used in the transportation of hazardous liquid or the treatment of hazardous liquid during the course of transportation. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan year: means the same as referenced in §. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Plat: means a map, drawing or print showing the location of one or more wells or a drilling unit. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• 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.
• Political subdivision: means the State of West Virginia, a county, city or town in the state. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Pool: means an underground accumulation of gas in a single and separate natural reservoir (ordinarily a porous sandstone or limestone). See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Pool: means an underground accumulation of petroleum or gas in a single and separate reservoir (ordinarily a porous sandstone or limestone). See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Power unit: means any vehicle which contains within itself the engine, motor, or other source of power by which said vehicle is propelled. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Powered equipment: means any equipment energized by an engine, motor or hydraulic, pneumatic, or electrical device and used in excavation or demolition work. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Prepaid wireless calling service: means prepaid wireless calling service as defined in §. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to July 1, 1961, to the extent credited a member as provided in this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• prison vendor: means any individual, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association or any other nongovernmental entity which is licensed to do business in the State of West Virginia and which has or will enter into a contractual agreement with a contracting agency to provide correctional services. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Private commercial carrier: means and includes any person who undertakes, whether directly or by lease or other arrangement, to transport property, including hazardous materials as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the commission, for himself or herself over the public highways of this state, in interstate or intrastate commerce, for any commercial purpose, by motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, by motor vehicle designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Proposal: means a filing solicited by the franchising authority for a cable franchise. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• PSAP: means a facility to which 911 calls are initially routed for response and where county personnel respond to specific requests for emergency service by directly dispatching the appropriate emergency service provider, relaying a message to the appropriate provider or transferring the call to the appropriate provider. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Public agency: means the state and any municipality, county, public district or public authority which provides or has authority to provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, rescue or other emergency services. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Public assistance: means all forms of assistance, including monetary assistance from any public source paid either to the mother or child or any other person on behalf of the child. See West Virginia Code 25-1B-1
• Public highway: means any public street, alley, road or highway, or thoroughfare of any kind in this state used by the public. See West Virginia Code 24A-1-2
• 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 safety unit: means a functional division of a public agency which provides firefighting, police, medical, rescue or other emergency services. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Public Service Commission: means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 24-1-2
• Public Service Commission: means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Public Service Commission: means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Public utility: means any person or persons, or association of persons, however associated, whether incorporated or not, including municipalities, engaged in any business, whether herein enumerated or not, which is, or shall hereafter be held to be, a public service: Provided, That "public utility" does not include individuals or entities owning a solar photovoltaic energy facility located on and designed to meet only the electrical needs of the premises of a retail electric customer, the output of which is subject to a power purchase agreement with the retail electric customer, subject to §. See West Virginia Code 24-1-2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rear end device: means a device located on the rear car of a railroad train designed to transmit information to the head end device and equipped with a rear marker light, red in color, and at least one hundred, but not more than one thousand, candela. See West Virginia Code 24-3-1a
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Regional jail authority: means the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority created by article twenty, chapter . See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Regular interest: means the rate or rates of interest per annum, compounded annually, as the board of trustees adopts from time to time. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Required beginning date: means April 1 of the calendar year following the later of: (A) The calendar year in which the member attains age 70. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirant: means any member who commences an annuity payable by the retirement system. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Retirement: means a member's withdrawal from the employ of a participating public employer and the commencement of an annuity by the retirement system. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Retroactive service: means : (1) Service between July 1, 1961, and the date an employer decides to become a participating member of the Public Employees Retirement System. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• rights-of-way: as used in this chapter does not authorize the commission to prescribe the location or routing of any pipeline facility. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Royalty owner: means any owner of gas in place, or gas rights, to the extent that such owner is not a gas operator as defined in subdivision (13) of this section. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Royalty owner: means any owner of oil and gas in place, or oil and gas rights, to the extent that the owner is not an operator as that term is defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• School: means an academic and noncollege type regular or special education institution of learning established and maintained by the Department of Education and the arts or licensed and supervised by that department. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Secretary: means the United States secretary of transportation. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Health Facilities. See West Virginia Code 26-1-2
• Secretary: means the secretary of the department of public safety. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Service: means personal service rendered to a participating public employer by an employee of a participating public employer. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Service area: means that geographic area for which a cable operator has been issued a cable franchise. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• 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.
• Shallow well: means any gas well other than a coalbed methane well, drilled no deeper than one hundred feet below the top of the "Onondaga Group": Provided, That in no event may the "Onondaga Group" formation or any formation below the "Onondaga Group" be produced, perforated or stimulated in any manner. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Shallow well: means any well other than a shallow horizontal well or a coalbed methane well, drilled no deeper than 100 feet below the top of the Onondaga Group: Provided, That in no event may the Onondaga Group formation or any formation below the Onondaga Group be produced, perforated or stimulated in any manner. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Special needs trust: means a trust established pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• State: means the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• State: means the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 25-5-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Support: means the payment of money, including interest:

  (A) For a child or spouse ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, whether the payment is ordered in an emergency, temporary, permanent or modified order, the amount of unpaid support shall bear simple interest from the date it accrued, at a rate of $10 upon $100 per annum, and proportionately for a greater or lesser sum, or for a longer or shorter time. See West Virginia Code 25-1B-1

• system: means the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System created and established by this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
• Technical and operational standards: means those standards of telephone equipment and processes necessary for the implementation of the comprehensive plan as defined in subdivision (11) of this subsection. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Telemetry system: means a radio transmitter and receiver system between a front end device and a rear end device which indicates through a display at the head end device the following:

  (i) Brake pipe pressure at the rear of the train, displayed in increments of one pound per square inch. See West Virginia Code 24-3-1a

• Telephone company: means any public utility and any CMRS provider which is engaged in the provision of telephone service whether primarily by means of wire or wireless facilities. See West Virginia Code 24-6-2
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• Town: includes a city, village or town, and the word "council" any body or board, whether composed of one or more branches, which is authorized to make ordinances for the government of a city, town, or village. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Transportation of gas: means the gathering, transmission or distribution of gas by pipeline or its storage. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Transportation of hazardous liquids: means the movement of hazardous liquids by pipeline, or their storage incidental to such movements. See West Virginia Code 24B-1-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unconventional reservoir: means any geologic formation that contains or is otherwise productive of oil or natural gas that generally cannot be produced at economic flow rates or in economic volumes except by wells stimulated by multiple hydraulic fracture treatments, a horizontal wellbore, or by using multilateral wellbores or some other technique to expose more of the formation to the wellbore. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Board: means the Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Board created in this article. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Underground facility: means any underground pipeline facility owned by a utility and regulated by the Public Service Commission, which is used in the transportation or distribution of gas, oil, or a hazardous liquid. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• unit: means the acreage on which one or more wells may be drilled. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Vertical well: means an oil and gas well that does not utilize horizontal drilling methods. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Video programming: means programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station. See West Virginia Code 24D-1-2
• Waste: means and includes:

  (A) Physical waste, as that term is generally understood in the oil and gas industry. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2

• Well: means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored or dug into the earth or into underground strata for the extraction, injection or placement of any liquid or gas, or any shaft or hole sunk or used in conjunction with the extraction, injection or placement. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Well: means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored, or dug into the earth or underground strata for the extraction of oil or gas. See West Virginia Code 22C-9-2
• Well operator: means any person who proposes to or does locate, drill, operate or abandon any well. See West Virginia Code 22C-8-2
• Work site: means the location of excavation or demolition work as described by an excavator, operator, or person or persons performing the work. See West Virginia Code 24C-1-2
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.