Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 2 > Chapter 1 - General Provisions

• Abutter: means an owner whose property abuts or adjoins the property of another person with no intervening land in between owned by a third party. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affected counties: means any South Carolina county that abuts or adjoins the boundary with an affected jurisdiction. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Affected jurisdiction: means a sovereign state whose common boundary with South Carolina has been clarified resulting in a change in the perceived location of the boundary to be that of the actual boundary. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Affected lands: means real property of an owner whose perceived location has been clarified pursuant to the boundary clarification legislation. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• Area of operation: means the area within the territorial boundaries of the municipality or municipalities for which a particular commission is created. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• 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.
• Autopsy: means the dissection of a dead body and the removal and examination of bone, tissue, organs, and foreign objects for the purpose of determining the cause of death and manner of death. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Blighted area: means any improved or vacant area where if improved, industrial, commercial, and residential buildings or improvements, because of a combination of five or more of the following factors: age; dilapidation; obsolescence; deterioration; illegal use of individual structures; presence of structures below minimum code standards; excessive vacancies; overcrowding of structures and community facilities; lack of ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities; inadequate utilities; excessive land coverage; deleterious land use or layout; depreciation of physical maintenance; lack of community planning, are detrimental to the public safety, health, morals, or welfare or, if vacant, the sound growth is impaired by (a) a combination of two or more of the following factors: obsolete platting of the vacant land; diversity of ownership of such land; tax and special assessment delinquencies on such land; deterioration of structures or site improvements in neighboring areas adjacent to the vacant land; or (b) the area immediately prior to becoming vacant qualified as a blighted area. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Bonds: shall include notes, bonds, refunding notes or bonds and other obligations authorized to be issued by this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• Bonds: means any bonds, interim certificates, notes, debentures or other obligations of a commission issued pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Boundary: as used in this chapter , has the meaning as established in § 1-1-10 and in accordance with the constitution of this State. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Boundary clarification legislation: means the amendments to § 1-1-10, effective January 1, 2017. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Cause of death: refers to the agent that has directly or indirectly resulted in a death. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• City: shall mean any incorporated municipality of the State. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• Clarification: means the official recognition of the original boundary as confirmed and agreed between an affected jurisdiction and the State of South Carolina pursuant to the boundary clarification legislation. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• clerk: as used in this title , signifies unless the context otherwise indicates, the clerk of the court where the action is pending. See South Carolina Code 19-1-20
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Commission: means a public body and a body corporate and politic created and organized in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• 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.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Conservation area: means any improved area that is not yet a blighted area but, because of a combination of three or more of the following factors: dilapidation; obsolescence; deterioration; illegal use of structures; presence of structures below minimum code standards; abandonment; excessive vacancies; overcrowding of structures and community facilities; lack of ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities; inadequate utilities; excessive land coverage; depreciation of physical maintenance; or lack of community planning, is detrimental to the public safety, health, morals, or welfare and may become a blighted area. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Convicted: includes any conviction by entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, conviction after trial, a finding of guilty but mentally ill, or a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. See South Carolina Code 17-25-510
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Coroner: means the person elected or serving as the county coroner pursuant to Section 24 of Article V of the South Carolina Constitution, 1895, this chapter, and Chapter 7 of Title 17. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Criminal risk factors: means characteristics and behaviors that, when addressed or changed, affect a person's risk for committing crimes. See South Carolina Code 17-22-1110
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Deputy coroner: means a person appointed pursuant to § 17-5-70. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Deputy medical examiner: means a licensed physician employed by the medical examiner, with the approval of the commission, to perform post-mortem examinations, autopsies, and examinations of other forms of evidence as required by this chapter. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Developer: shall mean any person, firm or partnership who enters into a loan agreement with the city whereby the developer agrees to construct, operate and maintain or procure the construction, operation and maintenance of buildings or other facilities or improvements upon land purchased with the proceeds of bonds. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• 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:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Dower: A widow
• Eligible person: means :
  
  (a) a victim of the particular crime in question who has suffered direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission of the particular crime;
  
  (b) a victim's spouse;
  
  (c) a victim's parent;
  
  (d) a victim's child;
  
  (e) a spouse, parent, child, or lawful representative of a victim who is:
  
  (i) deceased;
  
  (ii) a minor;
  
  (iii) incompetent; or
  
  (iv) physically or psychologically incapacitated; or
  
  (f) a person dependent for principal support on the deceased victim of the crime. See South Carolina Code 17-25-510
• 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.
• 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}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Evidence-based practices: means supervision policies, procedures, and practices that scientific research demonstrates reduce recidivism among individuals on probation, parole, or post-correctional supervision. See South Carolina Code 17-22-1110
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• 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
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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}
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing board: shall mean the governing body of any city. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• Governing body: means in the legislative body of a municipality. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Government: means the state and federal governments or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of either of them. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• 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.
• 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.
• Inquest: means an official judicial inquiry before a coroner and coroner's jury for the purpose of determining the manner of death. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• 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}
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Land: shall mean any real estate, whether improved or unimproved, located within any city which the governing board of such city proposes to acquire from the proceeds derived from the issuance of bonds after making a determination that the acquisition of such land is necessary in connection with any slum clearance or redevelopment work. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Loan agreement: shall mean any agreement, including without limitation, an agreement whereby the city shall lease land to a developer, made by and between a governing board and a developer by which the developer agrees to pay (and to secure if so required) the city or to any assignee thereof, the sums required to meet the payment of the principal, interest and redemption premium, if any, on any bonds. See South Carolina Code 31-9-10
• Medical examiner: means the licensed physician or pathologist designated by the county medical examiner's commission pursuant to Article 5 of this chapter for the purpose of performing post-mortem examinations, autopsies, and examinations of other forms of evidence required by this chapter. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Municipality: means any incorporated city or town or any county. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• noncriminal disposition: shall mean the dismissal of a criminal charge without prejudice to the State to reinstate criminal proceedings on motion of the solicitor. See South Carolina Code 17-22-20
• 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.
• obligee: means any bondholder, trustee or trustees for any bondholders, any lessor demising property to a commission used in connection with a redevelopment project, or any assignees of such lessor's interest, or any part thereof, and the federal government, when it is a party to any contract with a commission. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Offender: means the person convicted of the particular crime in question. See South Carolina Code 17-25-510
• Office: means Office of the Attorney General, South Carolina Crime Victim Services Division. See South Carolina Code 17-25-510
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: as used in this chapter means any person or entity owning of record a legal or equitable real property interest or incorporeal hereditament in affected lands as an abutter. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• Parent municipality: means the municipality or municipalities creating a commission. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• 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.
• Peace officer in charge: means members of the county, city, or town policemen, county, city, or town detectives, South Carolina Highway Patrol, or South Carolina Law Enforcement Division who may be in charge of the investigation of any case involving a death covered by this chapter. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• Performance: means any play, motion picture, photograph, dance, or other visual representation that is exhibited before an audience. See South Carolina Code 16-3-800
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Post-mortem examination: means examination after death and includes an examination of the dead body and surroundings by the medical examiner but does not include dissection of the body for any purpose. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
• 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}
• 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.
• Preclarification title: means muniments of title of record in an affected jurisdiction or the affected counties, or both, of an owner prior to the effective date of the boundary clarification legislation. See South Carolina Code 30-5-270
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Profit from a crime: includes any of the following:
  
  (a) property obtained through or income generated from the commission of a crime for which the offender was convicted;
  
  (b) property obtained or income generated from the sale, conversion, or exchange of proceeds of a crime for which the offender was convicted, including gain realized by the sale, conversion, or exchange; or
  
  (c) property which the offender obtained or income generated as a result of having committed the crime for which the offender was convicted, including assets obtained through the unique knowledge obtained during the commission of or in preparation for the commission of the crime, as well as any property obtained by or income generated from the sale, conversion, or exchange of that property and any gain realized by that sale, conversion, or exchange. See South Carolina Code 17-25-510
• Promote: means to procure, manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, lend, mail, deliver, transfer, transmit, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit, or advertise or to offer or agree to do any of the above. See South Carolina Code 16-3-800
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• prosecutorial discretion: shall mean the power of the circuit solicitor to consider all circumstances of criminal proceedings and to determine whether any legal action is to be taken and, if so taken, of what kind and degree and to what conclusion. See South Carolina Code 17-22-20
• 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.
• Redeveloper: means any individual, partnership, or public or private corporation that shall enter or propose to enter into a contract with a commission for the redevelopment of all or any part of a redevelopment area under the provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Redevelopment: means the acquisition, replanning, clearance, rehabilitation or rebuilding of an area for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial or other purposes, including the provision of streets, utilities, parks, recreational areas and other open spaces; provided, without limiting the generality thereof, the term "redevelopment" may include a program of repair and rehabilitation of buildings and other improvements, and may include the exercise of any powers under this chapter with respect to the area for which such program is undertaken. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Redevelopment area: means any area that a commission may find to be a blighted area, a conservation area, or any combination thereof, so as to require redevelopment under the provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Redevelopment contract: means a contract between a commission and a redeveloper for redevelopment under the provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Redevelopment plan: means a plan for the redevelopment of a redevelopment area made by a commission in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• Redevelopment project: means any work or undertaking:
  
  (a) to acquire blighted or conservation areas, including lands, structures, or improvements, the acquisition of which is necessary or incidental to the proper clearance, development, or redevelopment of such areas or to the prevention of the spread or recurrence of conditions of blight;
  
  (b) to clear any such areas by demolition or removal of existing buildings, structures, streets, utilities, or other improvements thereon and to install, construct, or reconstruct streets, utilities, and site improvements essential to the preparation of sites for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan;
  
  (c) to sell land in such areas for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, or other use or for the public use to the highest bidder set out by the provisions of this chapter or to retain such land for public use, in accordance with the redevelopment plan;
  
  (d) to carry out plans for a program of repair, rehabilitation, or reconditioning of buildings or other improvements in such areas, including the making of loans;
  
  (e) to engage in programs of assistance and financing, including the making of loans for rehabilitation, repair, construction, acquisition, or reconditioning of residential units in a redevelopment area. See South Carolina Code 31-10-20
• 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.
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• reverse mortgage: means a nonrecourse loan secured by real property which:
  
  (1) provides cash advances to a borrower based on the equity or future appreciation in value in a borrower's owner-occupied principal residence;
  
  (2) requires no payment of principal or interest until the entire loan becomes due and payable; and
  
  (3) is made by a lender authorized to engage in business as a bank, savings institution, or credit union under the laws of the United States or of South Carolina, or a mortgage lender licensed pursuant to Chapter 22 of Title 37. See South Carolina Code 29-4-20
• Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Sexual conduct: means actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals. See South Carolina Code 16-3-800
• Sexual performance: means any performance or part thereof that includes sexual conduct by a child younger than eighteen years of age. See South Carolina Code 16-3-800
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.