Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes > Chapter 15 > Comptroller

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• Advisory Committee: means the group of members selected from the public and private sectors to advise in the development and implementation of the comprehensive road improvement plan, and the periodic update of the plan. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• 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.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Asset forfeiture: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Assisted financing: means the financing of residential development by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, including loans to developers for multi-unit residential development and loans to purchasers of single family residences, including condominiums and townhomes. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• 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.
• Bailiff: a court officer who enforces the rules of behavior in courtrooms.
• 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.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• 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}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Bridge: means any bridge over or across a river, including any bridges on the approaches thereto to eliminate intersection at grade with any street, tunnel, public road, thoroughfare, highway, railroad or street railroad, where the complete project is located entirely within the State;
       (2) "Net Revenue" means the gross revenue of a bridge less the reasonable cost of operating, maintaining, and repairing the bridge;
       (3) "United States" means the United States of America and any agent or agency thereof;
       (4) "Holder" means the holder or holders of any of the bonds issued under this Division of this Article. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/10-701
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Comprehensive road improvement plan: means a plan prepared by the unit of local government in consultation with the Advisory Committee. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• 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.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Cross examine: Questioning of a witness by the attorney for the other side.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• decree: is synonymous with the word "judgment". See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.24
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• 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.
• Developer: means any person who undertakes new development. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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}
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Established place of business: means the place owned or leased and occupied by any person duly licensed or required to be licensed as a manufactured home dealer for the purpose of engaging in selling, buying, bartering, displaying, exchanging, or dealing in, on consignment or otherwise, manufactured homes and for such other ancillary purposes as may be permitted by the Secretary by rule. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 5/5-901
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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 Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• 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}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{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}
• 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
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Industrial project: means any: (a) capital project, including one or more buildings and other structures, improvements, machinery and equipment whether or not on the same site or sites now existing or hereafter acquired, suitable for use by any manufacturing, industrial, research, transportation or commercial enterprise, including but not limited to use as a factory, mill, processing plant, assembly plant, packaging plant, fabricating plant, office building, industrial distribution center, warehouse, repair, overhaul or service facility, freight terminal, research facility, test facility, railroad facility, or commercial facility, and including also the sites thereof and other rights in land therefor whether improved or unimproved, site preparation and landscaping, and all appurtenances and facilities incidental thereto such as utilities, access roads, railroad sidings, truck docking and similar facilities, parking facilities, dockage, wharfage, and other improvements necessary or convenient thereto; (b) land, buildings, machinery or equipment comprising an addition to or renovation, rehabilitation or improvement of any existing capital project; (c) construction, remodeling or conversion of a structure to be leased to the Illinois Department of Corrections for the purposes of its serving as a correctional institution or facility pursuant to paragraph (c) of § 3-2-2 of the Unified Code of Corrections; (d) construction, remodeling or conversion of a structure to be leased to the Department of Central Management Services for the purpose of serving as a State facility pursuant to Section 405-320 of the Department of Central Management Services Law; or (e) use or disposal of surplus real estate owned by the municipality. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 65 ILCS 5/11-74-2
• 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}
• 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.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• Land use assumptions: means a description of the service area or areas and the roads, streets or highways incorporated therein, including projections relating to changes in land uses, densities and population growth rates which affect the level of traffic within the service area or areas over a 20 year period of time. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• 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.
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Level of service: means one of the categories of road service as defined by the Institute of Transportation Engineers which shall be selected by a unit of local government imposing the impact fee as the adopted level of service to serve existing development not subject to the fee and new development, provided that the level of service selected for new development shall not exceed the level of service adopted for existing development. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Manufactured home: means a factory-assembled structure built on a permanent chassis, transportable in one or more sections in the travel mode, incapable of self-propulsion, bears a label indicating the manufacturer's compliance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development standards, as applicable, and is designed for year-round occupancy as a single-family residence when connected to approved water, sewer, and electrical utilities. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 5/5-901
• Manufactured home dealer: means : (1) an individual or entity that engages in the business of acquiring or disposing of new or used manufactured homes; (2) an individual or entity who advertises or otherwise holds the individual or the entity out as being engaged in the business of acquiring or selling new or used manufactured homes; or (3) an individual or entity who buys or sells more than 2 new or used manufactured homes within a 12-month period. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 5/5-901
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Municipality: includes any city, village or incorporated town in this State. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 65 ILCS 5/11-74-2
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• New development: means any residential, commercial, industrial or other project which is being newly constructed, reconstructed, redeveloped, structurally altered, relocated, or enlarged, and which generates additional traffic within the service area or areas of the unit of local government. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: shall be deemed to include an affirmation, and the word "sworn" shall be construed to include the word "affirmed. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.12
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Per stirpes: The legal means by which the children of a decedent, upon the death of an ancestor at a level above that of the decedent, receive by right of representation the share of the ancestor
• Person: means any individual, firm, partnership, association, public or private corporation, organization or business, charitable trust, or unit of local government. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• 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.
• police force: shall be construed to include such persons in the employ of a municipality as members of the department of police, who are or shall hereafter be appointed and sworn as policemen. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.20
• 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.
• 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
• property: means anything of value. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/15-1
• Proportionate share: means the cost of road improvements that are specifically and uniquely attributable to a new development after the consideration of the following factors: the amount of additional traffic generated by the new development, any appropriate credit or offset for contribution of money, dedication of land, construction of road improvements or traffic reduction techniques, payments reasonably anticipated to be made by or as a result of a new development in the form of user fees, debt service payments, or taxes which are dedicated for road improvements and all other available sources of funding road improvements. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• railroads: as used in this Division 89 does not include a railroad constituting or used as a part of a trunk line railroad system operated as a common carrier of freight and passengers. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 65 ILCS 5/11-89-3
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• 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}
• 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.
• Residential development: means a house, building, or other structure that is suitable or capable of being used for residential purposes. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Road improvement impact fee: means any charge or fee levied or imposed by a unit of local government as a condition to the issuance of a building permit or a certificate of occupancy in connection with a new development, when any portion of the revenues collected is intended to be used to fund any portion of the costs of road improvements. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Service area: means one or more land areas within the boundaries of the unit of local government which has been designated by the unit of local government in the comprehensive road improvement plan. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• 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.
• Site specific development approval: means an approval of a plan submitted by a developer to a unit of local government describing with reasonable certainty the type and intensity of use for a specific parcel or parcels of property. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• Specifically and uniquely attributable: means that a new development creates the need, or an identifiable portion of the need, for additional capacity to be provided by a road improvement. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 605 ILCS 5/5-903
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Surviving spouse: means "widow" or "widower" as the case may be. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.32
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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 trustees: means the members of the township board required by § 80-5 of the Township Code. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.30
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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}
• Units of local government: has the meaning established in Section 1 of Article VII of the Constitution of the State of Illinois of 1970. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.28
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.