Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 8 > Chapter 4 > Article 8 - Dependent Children

• Abuse: means the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behavior and which emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and is caused by the acts or omissions of an individual who has the care, custody and control of a child. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Adult: means a person who has attained eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Child safety services: means a specialized child welfare program that is administered by the department as provided in this chapter and that investigates allegations of and seeks to prevent, intervene in and treat abuse and neglect, to promote the well-being of the child in a permanent home and to coordinate services to strengthen the family. See Arizona Laws 8-801
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Complaint: means a written statement of the essential facts constituting a public offense that is any of the following:

  (a) Made on an oath before a judge or commissioner of the superior court or an authorized juvenile hearing officer. See Arizona Laws 8-201

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Correctional facility: means any place used for the confinement or control of a person:

  (a) Charged with or convicted of an offense; or

  (b) Held for extradition; or

  (c) Pursuant to an order of court for law enforcement purposes. See Arizona Laws 31-341

• Court: means a justice of the peace, town magistrate, city magistrate, superior court commissioner or superior court judge. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• Custodian: means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, who stands in loco parentis to the child or a person to whom legal custody of the child has been given by order of the juvenile court. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Custody: means the imposition of actual or constructive restraint pursuant to an on-site arrest or court order but does not include detention in a correctional facility, juvenile detention center or state hospital. See Arizona Laws 31-341
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• DCS report: means a communication received by the centralized intake hotline that alleges child abuse or neglect and that meets the criteria for a report as prescribed in section 8-455. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of child safety. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Department: means the state department of corrections. See Arizona Laws 31-201
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Detention facility: means any jail or other place of detention of persons charged with or convicted of a crime, including town, city, county, or regional facilities. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• Director: means the director of the department. See Arizona Laws 31-201
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Employment: includes vocational training and other educational and rehabilitative activities, whether or not for compensation. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escape: means departure from custody or from a correctional facility in which a person is held or detained with knowledge that such departure is unpermitted or failure to return to custody or detention following a temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or for a limited period. See Arizona Laws 31-341
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• 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.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• 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.
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• juvenile: means an individual who is under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Juvenile court: means the juvenile division of the superior court when exercising its jurisdiction over children in any proceeding relating to delinquency, dependency or incorrigibility. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Law enforcement officer: means a peace officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, municipal police officer or constable. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• 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}
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local governing board: means town council, city council or board of supervisors, or any combination thereof. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• Magistrate: means an officer having power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person charged with a public offense and includes the chief justice and justices of the supreme court, judges of the superior court, judges of the court of appeals, justices of the peace and judges of a municipal court. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Minor: means a person under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• neglected: means :

  (a) The inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care if that inability or unwillingness causes substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, except if the inability of a parent, guardian or custodian to provide services to meet the needs of a child with a disability or chronic illness is solely the result of the unavailability of reasonable services. See Arizona Laws 8-201

• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Petition: means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Population: means the population according to the most recent United States decennial census. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• Prisoner: means a person incarcerated in a detention facility who has been charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor, or a person incarcerated for nonpayment of a fine, for contempt or as a condition of probation for any criminal offense. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• 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
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Referral: means a report that is submitted to the juvenile court and that alleges that a child is dependent or incorrigible or that a juvenile has committed a delinquent or criminal act. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retail electric customer: means a person that purchases electricity for that person's own use, including use in that person's trade or business, and not for resale, redistribution or retransmission. See Arizona Laws 30-801
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Service territory: means the geographic area in which a public power entity or public service corporation owns, operates, controls or maintains either electric distribution facilities or natural gas distribution facilities and that additional area in which the public power entity or public service corporation has agreed to extend electric distribution facilities or natural gas distribution facilities, whether established by a certificate of convenience and necessity, by official action by a public power entity or by contract or agreement. See Arizona Laws 30-801
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testify: includes every manner of oral statement under oath or affirmation. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• 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}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Wilfully: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• work crew: means a group of prison inmates who possess the skills and training to work at prison sites and to participate, under the security supervision of correctional service officers, in any phase of prison construction, maintenance, renovation or conversion. See Arizona Laws 31-250
• Work furlough administrator: means a probation officer, sheriff, or other person authorized by the local governing board to perform the functions of the work furlough administrator. See Arizona Laws 31-331
• worker: means a person who has been selected by and trained under the requirements prescribed by the department and who assists in carrying out the provisions of this article. See Arizona Laws 8-801
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215