Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 13 > Chapter 21 > Part 1 - Structures Unfit for Occupation or Use

• 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.
• Agriculture: means :
  (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Apiary: means a collection of one (1) or more colonies of bees in beehives at a location. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Apiary inspectors: means those persons with relevant qualifications and beekeeping training who are employed by or working under contract with the department of agriculture for the purpose of implementing regulatory programs as directed by the state apiarist. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Appliances: means any apparatus, tools, machines or other devices used in handling and manipulating bees, honey, and wax that may be used in an apiary, or in transporting bees and their products and apiary supplies. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• 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
• Bee disease or pest: means a condition in which a colony is infested/infected with a bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic condition or an organism that can or will affect the well-being of a colony. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• beehive: means that container or structure used by a beekeeper to provide a cavity in which a colony of bees is expected to establish a permanent nest. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Beekeeper: means any individual, association, corporation, or other entity who deliberately provides nesting sites for colonies of honeybees and attempts to establish and maintain colonies of honeybees at any location. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Certification: means a voluntary training program approved by the department that when successfully completed authorizes the beekeeper to detect, identify, and control regulated bee diseases and pests in colonies under the management of that beekeeper. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Certified beekeeper: means any person who has successfully met the requirements of a voluntary certification program for beekeepers as approved by the state apiarist. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Collector: includes any person entrusted with the collection of public revenue. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Colony: means all of the bees living together as one (1) social unit and may include the bee equipment in which the bees are living. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designated agent. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Tennessee department of agriculture. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Dwelling: means any building or structure, or part thereof, used and occupied for human occupation or use or intended to be so used, and includes any outhouses and appurtenances belonging thereto or usually enjoyed therewith. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Governing body: means the council, commission, or board, or other legislative body, charged with governing a municipality. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• honeybees: means any developmental stage of any sub- species of the species Apis mellifem. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Municipality: means any city or town. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Owner: means the holder of the title in fee simple and every mortgagee of record. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Parties in interest: means all individuals, associations, corporations and others who have interests of record in a structure and any who are in possession thereof. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Place of public accommodation: means any building or structure in which goods are supplied or services performed, or in which the trade of the general public is solicited. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public authority: means any housing authority or any officer who is in charge of any department or branch of the government of the municipality or state relating to health, fire, building regulations, or other activities concerning structures in the municipality. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Public officer: means any officer or officers of a municipality or the executive director or other chief executive officer of any commission or authority established by such municipality or jointly with any other municipality who is authorized by ordinance adopted hereunder to exercise the power prescribed by such ordinances and by this part. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State apiarist: means that person employed by the department who has the qualifications prescribed by this chapter and has been designated as state apiarist by the commissioner. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
• Structure: means any dwelling or place of public accommodation or vacant building or structure suitable as a dwelling or place of public accommodation. See Tennessee Code 13-21-101
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105