Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 2 > Chapter 15 > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Access: means the ability to receive, use, and manipulate data and operate controls included in information technology. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• Advisory capacity: means furnishing advice, gathering information, making recommendations, and performing other activities that may be necessary to comply with federal funding requirements and does not mean administering a program or function or setting policy. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Agency: means an office, position, commission, committee, board, department, council, division, bureau, section, or any other entity or instrumentality of the executive branch of state government. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Agency: means each state office, department, board, commission, council, committee, unit of the university system, or other entity or instrumentality of the executive branch, office of the legislative branch, or office of the judicial branch of state government. See Montana Code 18-7-302
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Blind or visually impaired: means an individual who has:

  (a)a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses or has a limited field of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees;

  (b)a medically indicated expectation of visual deterioration; or

  (c)a medically diagnosed limitation in visual functioning that restricts the individual's ability to read and write standard print at levels expected of individuals of comparable ability. See Montana Code 18-5-602

• Blind person: means a person whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or whose visual acuity is greater than 20/200 but is accompanied by a limitation in the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle that is not greater than 20 degrees as determined by an ophthalmologist or a physician skilled in diseases of the eye. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Blind vendor: means a person certified as a blind person for the purpose of this part and who is operating a vending facility administered by the department. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Compensation: means remuneration paid out of funds controlled by an employer in payment for the member's services or for time during which the member is excused from work because of a holiday or because the member has taken compensatory leave, sick leave, annual leave, banked holiday time, or a leave of absence before any pretax deductions allowed by state or federal law are made. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contracting employer: means any political subdivision or governmental entity that has contracted to come into the system under this chapter. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• 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.
• Data: means any information stored on information technology resources. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Defined benefit plan: means the plan within the public employees' retirement system established in 19-3-103 that is not the defined contribution plan. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• Department: means the department of public health and human services. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Department: means the department of administration provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 10. See Montana Code 18-7-302
• Department: means a principal functional and administrative entity that:

  (a)is created by this chapter within the executive branch of state government;

  (b)is one of the 20 principal departments permitted under the constitution; and

  (c)includes its units. See Montana Code 2-15-102

• Department head: means a director, commission, board, commissioner, or constitutional officer in charge of a department created by this chapter. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means a department head specifically referred to as a director in this chapter and does not mean a commission, board, commissioner, or constitutional officer. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Employer: means the state of Montana, its university system or any of the colleges, schools, components, or units of the university system for the purposes of this chapter, or any contracting employer. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• Employer contributions: means payments to a pension trust fund pursuant to 19-3-316 from appropriations of the state of Montana and from contracting employers. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• 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.
• Executive branch: means the executive branch of state government referred to in Article III, section 1, and Article VI of the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• 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.
• Federal property: means buildings or portions of buildings or other real property owned or leased by the federal government upon which the department may administer vending facilities by an agreement entered into under the authority of the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, as amended. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Function: means a duty, power, or program, exercised by or assigned to an agency, whether or not specifically provided for by law. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• 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
• 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.
• Highest average compensation: means :

  (i)for a member hired prior to July 1, 2011, the highest average monthly compensation during any 36 consecutive months of membership service;

  (ii)for a member hired on or after July 1, 2011, the highest average monthly compensation during any 60 consecutive months of membership service; or

  (iii)in the event a member has not served the minimum specified period of service, the total compensation earned divided by the months of membership service. See Montana Code 19-3-108

• Information technology: means all electronic information processing hardware and software, including telecommunications. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• Information technology resources: means hardware, software, and associated services and infrastructure used to store or transmit information in any form, including voice, video, and electronic data. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• 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}
• 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.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• 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.
• Nonvisual: means synthesized speech, Braille, and other output methods not requiring sight. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• 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.
• Other property: means all real property other than state or federal property as defined in this part. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• 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: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• 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.
• Printing: means the act of reproducing a design on a surface by any process. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Probate: Proving a will
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Public agency: means any political subdivision, including municipalities, counties, school districts, and any agency or department of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 18-11-102
• Public document: means any publication of an agency that is meant for dissemination to the public, but does not include educational materials published by a unit of the university system or the superintendent of public instruction, reports of the legislative auditor, travel promotion materials, standard forms, bid specifications, opinions of the attorney general, opinions of the supreme court, session laws, the Administrative Rules of Montana, the Montana Code Annotated, or regular periodical publications sold to the general public solely through subscription and newsstand sale. See Montana Code 18-7-302
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quasi-judicial function: means an adjudicatory function exercised by an agency, involving the exercise of judgment and discretion in making determinations in controversies. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Readily adaptable: means that all critical components of information may be rendered by the information technology in equivalent nonvisual formats and that the installation or operation of software or hardware adaptations for speech, Braille, or other nonvisual formats do not require extraordinary alterations to the information technology. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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.
• retirement system: means the public employees' retirement system established in 19-3-103. See Montana Code 19-3-108
• 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 the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• State agency: means a department, board, commission, office, bureau, institution, university system entity, or unit of state government recognized in the state budget. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• State property: means those buildings or portions of buildings or other real property owned or leased under a lease-purchase agreement or, in the case of a building, leased in its entirety by the state or agencies of the state and used in the conduct of state matters and occupied principally by state employees. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• subscription: includes the mark of a person who cannot write if the person's name is written near the mark by another person who also signs that person's own name as a witness. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Telecommunications: means the transmission of information, images, pictures, voice, or data by radio, video, or other electronic or impulse means. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• 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.
• Tribal government: means the officially recognized government of any Indian tribe, nation, or other organized group or community located in Montana exercising self-government powers and recognized as eligible for services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. See Montana Code 18-11-102
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Undue burden: means compliance may be accomplished only by incurring an undue financial or administrative burden or by fundamentally altering a program or activity. See Montana Code 18-5-602
• Unit: means an internal subdivision of an agency, created by law or by administrative action, including a division, bureau, section, or department, and an agency allocated to a department for administrative purposes only by this chapter. See Montana Code 2-15-102
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Vending facility: means an area and equipment inclusive of vending machines on state property that is or may be used in providing a food, beverage, or other service to employees and other persons present on the property. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Vocational rehabilitation programs: means those programs provided for under the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, as amended, and Title 53, chapter 7, part 3. See Montana Code 18-5-402
• Willfully: when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted, means a purpose or willingness to commit the act or make the omission referred to. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203