Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes > Chapter 20 > Subchapter II - Commerce

• Acquire: when used in connection with a grant of power to any person, includes the acquisition by purchase, grant, gift or bequest. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Adult: means a person who has attained the age of 18 years, except that for purposes of investigating or prosecuting a person who is alleged to have violated any state or federal criminal law or any civil law or municipal ordinance, "adult" means a person who has attained the age of 17 years. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• 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
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• County board: means the county board of supervisors. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols or figures. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• 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.
• 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.
• Land: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Oath: includes affirmation in all cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Officers: when applied to corporations include directors and trustees. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Optical disc: means a rotating circular plate on which information or images are placed in storage, and which is recorded and read by laser beams focused on the plate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Population: means that shown by the most recent regular or special federal census. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: includes real and personal property. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Qualified: when applied to any person elected or appointed to office, means that such person has done those things which the person was by law required to do before entering upon the duties of the person's office. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• seal: includes the word "seal" the letters "L S" and a scroll or other device intended to represent a seal, if any is affixed in the proper place for a seal, as well as an impression of a seal on the instrument. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Town: may be construed to include cities, villages, wards or districts. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Village: means incorporated village. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; "year" alone means "year of our Lord". See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01