Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 48 > Article 22 > Part 7 - Procedures for Adoption

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• County commission: has the meaning ascribed to it in §. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-2
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deputy sheriff: means an individual employed as a county law-enforcement deputy sheriff in this state and as defined by §. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-2
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Effective date: means July 1, 1998. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-2
• 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.
• Fund: means the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff Retirement Fund created pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-2
• 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.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Plan: means the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff Death, Disability, and Retirement Plan established by this article. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-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.
• retirement: means a member's withdrawal from the employ of a participating public employer and the commencement of an annuity by the plan. See West Virginia Code 7-14D-2
• State: means a state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-14-601
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.