Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 38 > Chapter 8 > Article 1 - Law Enforcement Officers

• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Appeal: means a hearing before a state or local merit board, a civil service board, an administrative law judge or a hearing officer. See Arizona Laws 38-1101
• commission: means any office, board or commission of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, the salary or compensation of the incumbent or members of which is paid from a fund raised by taxation or by public revenue. See Arizona Laws 38-101
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Disciplinary action: means the dismissal, the demotion or any suspension of a law enforcement officer that is a result of misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. See Arizona Laws 38-1101
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• 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.
• Excusable neglect: means neglect or inadvertence that might be the act of a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances. See Arizona Laws 38-1101
• Good faith: means honesty of purpose and absence of intent to defraud. See Arizona Laws 38-1101
• 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.
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Investigative file: means the law enforcement agency's complete report and any attachments detailing the incidents leading to the disciplinary action, including complaints, audio recordings, video recordings, photographs, witness statements and exculpatory and mitigating evidence. See Arizona Laws 38-1101
• 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.
• Just cause: means :

  (a) The employer informed the law enforcement officer of the possible disciplinary action resulting from the officer's conduct through agency manuals, employee handbooks, the employer's rules and regulations or other communications to the officer or the conduct was such that the officer should have reasonably known disciplinary action could occur. See Arizona Laws 38-1101

• Law enforcement officer: means :

  (a) An individual, other than a probationary employee, who is certified by the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, other than a person employed by a multi-county water conservation district. See Arizona Laws 38-1101

• 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.
• Peace officers: means sheriffs of counties, constables, marshals, policemen of cities and towns, commissioned personnel of the department of public safety, personnel who are employed by the state department of corrections and the department of juvenile corrections and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a multicounty water conservation district and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by community college district governing boards and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the Arizona board of regents and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the governing body of a public airport pursuant to section 28-8426 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a private postsecondary institution pursuant to section 15-1897 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board and special agents from the office of the attorney general, or of a county attorney, and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Population: means the population according to the most recent United States decennial census. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215