Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 8 > Article 16 - Municipal Public Works; Revenue Bond Financing

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Administrator: means any person who fills a statutorily created position within or related to an agency or board (other than a board member) and who is designated by statute as commissioner, deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner, director, chancellor, chief, executive director, executive secretary, superintendent, deputy superintendent, or other administrative title, however designated. See West Virginia Code 5F-1-4
• 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.
• Agency: means any department, division, fund, office, position, system, survey or other entity of state government, however designated, transferred to and incorporated in one of the departments created in section two of this article. See West Virginia Code 5F-1-4
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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-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.
• Audit: means a systematic examination and collection of sufficient, competent evidential matter needed for an Auditor to attest to the fairness of management&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Authority: means the governmental entity created in section five, article fifteen, chapter thirty-one, of this code. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Authority: means the West Virginia economic development authority, provided for in article fifteen, chapter . See West Virginia Code 5E-1-4
• Authority: means the West Virginia economic development authority, provided for in article fifteen, chapter . See West Virginia Code 5E-2-2
• Bailee: means a person that by a warehouse receipt, bill of lading, or other document of title acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• board: shall be construed to mean the governing body or committee composed of all or a portion of the governing body when only one municipality is involved, or a board or commission appointed by the governing body when only one municipality is involved or appointed by the governing bodies when two or more municipalities take joint action under the provisions of this article, as the case may be. See West Virginia Code 8-16-4
• Board: means any board, commission, authority, council, or other body, however designated, consisting of two or more members, transferred to and incorporated in one of the departments created in section two of this article. See West Virginia Code 5F-1-4
• Carrier: means a person that issues a bill of lading. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Charter: shall mean , except where specific reference is made to a particular type of charter, either a special legislative charter (whether or not amended under the provisions of former §. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Chief risk officer: means the person appointed to the position created in section three of this article and who is vested with authority to assist state spending units in planning and coordinating fiscal risk analysis and management activities that serve the effectiveness and efficiency of the individual state spending units, state executive agencies and further the overall management goals and purposes of government. See West Virginia Code 5-1D-2
• Code: means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as heretofore and hereafter amended. See West Virginia Code 5F-1-4
• Code: shall mean the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as heretofore and hereafter amended. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Commission: means the occupational safety and health review commission established under this article. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• Commissioner: means the labor commissioner or his designated agent. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• Commissioner of Highways: means the chief executive officer of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation provided in section one, article two-a, chapter . See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consignee: means a person named in a bill of lading to which or to whose order the bill promises delivery. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Consignor: means a person named in a bill of lading as the person from which the goods have been received for shipment. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• County commission: shall mean the governmental body created by section 22, article eight of the Constitution of this state, or any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• County court: includes any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• County transportation sales and use taxes: means the transportation sales tax and the transportation use tax imposed by a county commission pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Decision: means any determination, action, vote or final disposition of a motion, proposal, resolution, order, ordinance or measure on which a vote of the governing body is required at any meeting at which a quorum is present. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Delivery order: means a record that contains an order to deliver goods directed to a warehouse, carrier, or other person that in the ordinary course of business issues warehouse receipts or bills of lading. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Emergency meeting: means any meeting called by a governing body for the purpose of addressing an unexpected event which requires immediate attention because it poses:

  (A) An imminent threat to public health or safety. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2

• Employee: means any public employee of the state, or any state agency. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Examination: includes an audit, review, or small government monitoring as defined in this section. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Executive session: means any meeting or part of a meeting of a governing body which is closed to the public. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Federal awards: means federal financial assistance and federal cost-reimbursement contracts that nonfederal entities receive directly from federal awarding agencies or indirectly from pass-through entities. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Federal financial assistance: means assistance that nonfederal entities receive or administer in the form of grants, loans, loan guarantees, property, cooperative agreements, interest subsidies, insurance, food commodities, direct appropriations, or other assistance, but does not include amounts received as reimbursement for services rendered to individuals in accordance with guidance issued by the director of the federal office of management and budget. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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}
• Financial audit: includes financial statement audits and financial related audits, as defined by government auditing standards. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Fiscal impact: means any anticipated budgetary or other financial impact that may result from the proposed expenditure, decision, or undertaking. See West Virginia Code 5-1D-2
• Fiscal risk analysis and management: means issues that arise out of the day-to-day operations of state government that put at fiscal risk the people, property or other assets of the state, the overall operation of state government and its ability to carry and acceptance of fiscal risks on decisions with potential fiscal impact of an amount of at least $1 million: Provided, That the authority shall advise and make recommendations to the Public Employees Insurance Agency, the Consolidated Public Retirement Board, workers'. See West Virginia Code 5-1D-2
• 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}
• 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}
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract for storage or transportation. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Governing body: means the members of any public agency having the authority to make decisions for or recommendations to a public agency on policy or administration, the membership of a governing body consists of two or more members. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Governing body: shall mean the mayor and council together, the council, the board of directors, the commission, or other board or body of any municipality, by whatever name called, as the case may be, charged with the responsibility of enacting ordinances and determining the public policy of such municipality. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Government auditing standards: means the government auditing standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, which are applicable to financial audits of government organizations, programs, and activities. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• 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.
• incompetence: as used in this article , may include the following acts or adjudications committed or arising during the challenged officer&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 6-6-1
• 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.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Investigation: means an examination, inspection, or review of a local government&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Issuer: means a bailee that issues a document of title or, in the case of an unaccepted delivery order, the person that orders the possessor of goods to deliver. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• 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.
• 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
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local government: means any unit of local government within the state, including a county, county board of education, municipality, and any other authority, board, commission, district, office, public authority, public corporation, or other instrumentality of a county, county board of education, or municipality or any combination of two or more local governments. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Meeting: means the convening of a governing body of a public agency for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision or to deliberate toward a decision on any matter which results in an official action. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• neglect of duty: as used in this article , means the knowing refusal or willful failure of a public officer to perform an essential act or duty of the office required by law. See West Virginia Code 6-6-1
• Nonfederal entity: means a state, local government, or nonprofit organization. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• 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.
• Office of Management and Budget: means the executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of Management and Budget. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Official action: means action which is taken by virtue of power granted by law, ordinance, policy, rule, or by virtue of the office held. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• official misconduct: as used in this article , means conviction of a felony during the officer&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 6-6-1
• Ordinance: shall mean the ordinances and laws enacted by the governing body of a municipality in the exercise of its legislative power, and in one or more articles of this chapter, ordinances enacted by a county commission. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: means one or more individuals. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• Person: includes any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, association, public or private corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, cooperative, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, executor, administrator, any other fiduciary, any representative appointed by order of any court or otherwise acting on behalf of others, or any other group or combination acting as a unit and the plural as well as the singular number. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Person: shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or any other entity or organization of whatever character or description. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• 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.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Project costs: means capital costs, costs of financing, planning, designing, constructing, expanding, improving, or maintaining a road. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• projects: means the construction, reconstruction, establishment, acquisition, improvement, renovation, extension, enlargement, increase, equipment, maintenance, repair (including replacements) and operation of jails, jail facilities, municipal buildings, police stations, fire stations, libraries, museums, other public buildings, incinerator plants, land fill or other garbage disposal systems, hospitals, piers, docks, terminals, airports, drainage systems, flood control systems, stormwater systems and associated stormwater management program, flood walls, culverts, bridges (including approaches, causeways, viaducts, underpasses and connecting roadways), public markets, cemeteries, motor vehicle parking facilities (including parking lots, buildings, ramps, curb-line parking, meters and other facilities considered necessary, appropriate, useful, convenient or incidental to the regulation, control and parking of motor vehicles), farms, dormitories, apartments and other housing facilities for the students and faculties of institutions of higher education. See West Virginia Code 8-16-1
• Proper legal authority: means the prosecuting attorney of the county wherein the audited, examined, or investigated entity is located, the Attorney General, law enforcement, or other legal authority the chief inspector deems appropriate. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public agency: means any administrative or legislative unit of state, county or municipal government, including any department, division, bureau, office, commission, authority, board, public corporation, section, committee, subcommittee or any other agency or subunit of the foregoing, authorized by law to exercise some portion of executive or legislative power. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Qualified investment: means a debt or equity financing of a West Virginia business, but only if the business is engaged in one or more of the following activities: Manufacturing. See West Virginia Code 5E-1-4
• qualified petitioner: as used in this article , means a person who was registered to vote in the election in which the officer was chosen which next preceded the filing of the petition. See West Virginia Code 6-6-1
• Quorum: means the gathering of a simple majority of the constituent membership of a governing body, unless applicable law provides for varying the required ratio. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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 West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• 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}
• Regular meeting: means a meeting of a governing body at which the regular business of the public is conducted. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• Resident: shall mean any individual who maintains a usual and bona fide place of abode within the corporate limits of a municipality or within the boundaries of a territory referred to in this chapter, as the case may be. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Review: means an inquiry or analytical procedures that provide the Auditor with a reasonable basis for expressing limited assurance that there are no material modifications that should be made to the financial statements in order for them to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles or, if applicable, with another comprehensive basis of accounting. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Road: means a public highway, road, bridge, tunnel, or overpass to be used for the transportation of persons or goods including bicycle and pedestrian facilities. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Road construction project: means and includes any road construction project included in a road construction project plan that is adopted by a county commission pursuant to this article and approved by the Commissioner of Highways as provided in this article. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Sale: means any transaction resulting in the purchase or lease of tangible personal property, custom software or a taxable service from a retailer. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• Secretary: means the administrative head of one of the departments created in section two of this article. See West Virginia Code 5F-1-4
• Select or special committee: A committee established by the legislature for a limited time period to perform a particular study or investigation. These committees might be given or denied authority to report legislation to the legislature.
• service: means and includes, but is not limited to, customer support services, help desk services, call center services, repair services, engineering services, installation service, assembly service, delivery service by means other than common carrier or the United States Postal Service, technical assistance services, the service of investigating, handling or otherwise assisting in resolving customer issues or complaints while in the county, the service of operating a mail order business or telephone, Internet or other remote order business from facilities located within the county, the service of operating a website or internet-based business from a location within the county imposing the use tax or any other service. See West Virginia Code 7-27-3
• 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.
• Shipper: means a person that enters into a contract of transportation with a carrier. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Single audit: means a financial and compliance audit as defined in the federal Single Audit Act of 1996, as amended, in section 7502(d), chapter 75, title 31 of the United States Code, of a nonfederal entity that includes the entity&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Small business investment company: means a small business investment company licensed by the United States small business investment administration under the federal small business investment act of 1958, 15 U. See West Virginia Code 5E-1-4
• Small government monitoring: means specialized procedures, performed on certain qualifying local governments as a lower cost alternative to an audit or review. See West Virginia Code 6-9-1a
• Special meeting: means a meeting of a governing body other than a regular meeting or an emergency meeting. See West Virginia Code 6-9A-2
• State: means the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 5E-1-4
• State: means the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 5E-2-2
• Stormwater management program: means those activities associated with the management, operation, maintenance and control of stormwater and stormwater systems, and shall include, but not be limited to, public education, stormwater and surface runoff water quality improvement, mapping, planning, flood control, inspection, enforcement and any other activities required by state and federal law. See West Virginia Code 8-16-1
• Stormwater systems: means a stormwater system in its entirety or any integral part thereof used to collect and dispose of stormwater and an associated stormwater management program. See West Virginia Code 8-16-1
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• 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.
• Treasurer: shall mean the treasurer or other municipal officer, by whatever name called, exercising the power and authority commonly exercised by a treasurer. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• 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}
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Warehouse: means a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.