Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes > Chapter 14 - Freedom of Information Act

• Actuarial reserve basis: means a basis under which the liabilities of the retirement system are determined under acceptable actuarial methods and under which assets are accumulated under a program designed to achieve a proper balance between the accumulated assets and the liabilities of the system. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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.
• 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.
• Affiliated: includes entities that are an affiliate of the other entity or where both of the entities are an affiliate of the same entity. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• agency: means :

  (A) Any executive, administrative or legislative office of the state or any political subdivision of the state and any state or town agency, any department, institution, bureau, board, commission, authority or official of the state or of any city, town, borough, municipal corporation, school district, regional district or other district or other political subdivision of the state, including any committee of, or created by, any such office, subdivision, agency, department, institution, bureau, board, commission, authority or official, and also includes any judicial office, official, or body or committee thereof but only with respect to its or their administrative functions, and for purposes of this subparagraph, "judicial office" includes, but is not limited to, the Division of Public Defender Services. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200

• Agent: means a person authorized to act for or in place of another. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Agricultural science and technology education: includes vocational aquaculture and marine-related employment. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annual salary: means the annual salary rate for service as a Connecticut teacher during a school year but not including unused sick leave, unused vacation, terminal pay, coaching or extra duty assignments, unless compensation for coaching or extra duty assignment was included in salary for which contributions were made prior to July 1, 1971. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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.
• another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• 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.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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
• aquaculture: means the farming of the waters of the state and tidal wetlands and the production of protein food, including fish, oysters, clams, mussels and other molluscan shellfish, on leased, franchised and public underwater farm lands. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• At large: means selected on a basis other than from a district. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• 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.
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Average annual salary: means the average of the three highest annual salaries received as an active member. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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.
• banks: shall include all incorporated banks. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• 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.
• Board: means the Teachers' Retirement Board. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Board for admission of electors: means the board as composed under subsection (a) of section 9-15a. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Bundle: means the forwarding of five or more contributions to a single committee by a communicator lobbyist, an agent of such lobbyist, or a member of the immediate family of such lobbyist, or raising contributions for a committee at a fundraising affair held by, sponsored by, or hosted by a communicator lobbyist or an agent of such lobbyist, or a member of the immediate family of such lobbyist. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Business entity: means the following, whether organized in or outside of this state: Stock corporations, banks, insurance companies, business associations, bankers associations, insurance associations, trade or professional associations which receive funds from membership dues and other sources, partnerships, joint ventures, private foundations, as defined in Section 509 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Business with which he is associated: means any business in which the contributor is a director, officer, owner, limited or general partner or holder of stock constituting five per cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Candidate: means any person whose name is placed, or proposed to be placed, as the case may be, on the primary ballot of a party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• Candidate: means an individual who seeks nomination for election or election to public office whether or not such individual is elected, and for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 157, an individual shall be deemed to seek nomination for election or election if such individual has (A) been endorsed by a party or become eligible for a position on the ballot at an election or primary, or (B) solicited or received contributions, other than for a party committee, made expenditures or given such individual's consent to any other person, other than a party committee, to solicit or receive contributions or make expenditures with the intent to bring about such individual's nomination for election or election to any such office. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• candidate committee: includes candidate committees for participating and nonparticipating candidates, unless the context of a provision clearly indicates otherwise. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Caucus: means (A) a convening or assembly of the enrolled members of a single political party who are members of a public agency within the state or a political subdivision, or (B) the members of a multimember public agency, which members constitute a majority of the membership of the agency, or the other members of the agency who constitute a minority of the membership of the agency, who register their intention to be considered a majority caucus or minority caucus, as the case may be, for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, provided (i) the registration is made with the office of the Secretary of the State for any such public agency of the state, in the office of the clerk of a political subdivision of the state for any public agency of a political subdivision of the state, or in the office of the clerk of each municipal member of any multitown district or agency, (ii) no member is registered in more than one caucus at any one time, (iii) no such member's registration is rescinded during the member's remaining term of office, and (iv) a member may remain a registered member of the majority caucus or minority caucus regardless of whether the member changes his or her party affiliation under chapter 143. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Caucus: means any meeting, at a designated hour and place, or at designated hours and places, of the enrolled members of a political party within a municipality or political subdivision thereof for the purpose of selecting party-endorsed candidates for a primary to be held by such party or for the purpose of transacting other business of such party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• certified check: shall be construed to include any bank treasurer's or cashier's check. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1b
• Certified school indoor air quality emergency: means the existence of a building condition determined by the Department of Public Health to present a substantial and imminent adverse health risk that requires remediation in an amount greater than one hundred thousand dollars. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Chairman: means the chairman of the state central committee of a party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• Child: means a natural child, an adopted child, or a stepchild of a deceased member who has been a stepchild for at least one year immediately prior to the date on which the member died. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Child care services: means services rendered to a candidate for the care of any child who is under thirteen years of age and for whom such candidate is the parent or legal guardian, which services are necessary as a direct result of campaign activity that would not exist but for such candidate's campaign. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Clerical error: means any error in the registry list or enrollment list due to a mistake or an omission on the part of the printer or a mistake or omission made by the registrars or their assistants. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• clerk of the municipality: means the town clerk in or for the municipality to which reference is made, unless otherwise provided by charter or special act. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1a
• Code violation: means the correction of any condition in an existing building for public school purposes, the total project costs of which exceed ten thousand dollars, and which condition is in violation of the requirements of the State Building, Fire Safety or Public Health Codes, state or federal Occupational, Safety and Health Administration Codes, federal or state accessibility requirements or regulations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, state Department of Public Health regulations for radon or federal standards for lead contamination in school drinking water. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Committee: means a party committee, political committee or a candidate committee organized, as the case may be, for a single primary, election or referendum, or for ongoing political activities, to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any one or more candidates for public office or the position of town committee member or any referendum question. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Completed school building project: means a school building project declared complete by the applicant board of education as of the date shown on the final application for grant payment purposes as submitted by said board to the Commissioner of Administrative Services or an agent of the commissioner. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contribution: means :

  (1) Any gift, subscription, loan, advance, payment or deposit of money or anything of value, made to promote the success or defeat of any candidate seeking the nomination for election, or election or for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of any referendum question or the success or defeat of any political party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601a

• Contributions: means amounts withheld pursuant to this chapter and paid to the board by an employer from compensation payable to a member. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Convention: means a meeting of delegates of a political party held for the purpose of designating the candidate or candidates to be endorsed by such party in a primary of such party for state or district office or for the purpose of transacting other business of such party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Coparticipant: means a person who the member elects at the time of retirement to receive guaranteed lifetime benefits upon the death of the member. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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.
• Covered transfer: means any donation, transfer or payment of funds by a person to another person if the person receiving the donation, transfer or payment makes independent expenditures or transfers funds to another person who makes independent expenditures. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Credited interest: means interest at the rate from time to time fixed by the board consistent with industry standards and practices. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Current service: means service rendered in the current fiscal year. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Date of beginning of construction: means the date on which the general construction contract or the first phase thereof, purchase agreement or leasing agreement is signed by the authorized agent of the town or regional school district. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Delegate: means a person selected by a party to vote at its national convention held for the purpose of nominating such party's candidate for President. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent former spouse: means a former spouse of a deceased member who (A) has in his or her care a dependent child of the deceased member. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Dependent parent: means a parent of a deceased member who (A) has reached the age of sixty-five. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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.
• Deputy treasurer: means the individual appointed by the candidate or by the chairperson of a committee to serve in the capacity of the treasurer if the treasurer is unable to perform the treasurer's duties. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Designated beneficiary: means a person designated on a form prescribed by the board by a member to receive amounts that may become payable under this chapter as the result of the member's death. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Disabled: means the inability to perform any teaching service, whether or not such service is performed full-time or part-time, in a public or nonpublic school or a nonschool setting, on a volunteer basis or for compensation, within or without the state, or engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that (A) is permanent or can be expected to last continually for not less than twelve months from the onset of such impairment, or (B) can be expected to result in death or to be of long-continued and indefinite duration, except that during the first twenty-four months that a member is receiving a disability allowance, "disabled" means the inability to perform the usual duties of the member's occupation by reason of any such impairment. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• District: means any geographic portion of the state which crosses the boundary or boundaries between two or more towns. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• District: means a congressional district or other political subdivision of the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• District office: means an elective office for which only the electors in a district, as defined in subdivision (3) of this section, may vote. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Election: means any electors' meeting at which the electors choose public officials by use of voting tabulators or by paper ballots as provided in section 9-272. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Elector: means any person possessing the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution and duly admitted to, and entitled to exercise, the privileges of an elector in a town. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Electronic equipment: means any technology that facilitates real-time public access to meetings, including, but not limited to, telephonic, video or other conferencing platforms. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Electronic transmission: means any form or process of communication not directly involving the physical transfer of paper or another tangible medium, which (A) is capable of being retained, retrieved and reproduced by the recipient, and (B) is retrievable in paper form by the recipient. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Elementary school building: means any public school building designed to house any combination of grades below grade seven or children requiring special education who are described in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 10-76d. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• 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}
• Employer: means an elected school committee, a board of education, the State Board of Education, the Office of Early Childhood, the Technical Education and Career System, the Board of Regents for Higher Education or any of the constituent units, the governing body of the Children's Center and its successors, The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, the E. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Energy conservation lease purchase agreement: means any lease purchase agreement, installment sale agreement or other similar agreement providing for periodic payments by a town or regional school district which (A) has as its purpose the financing of a school building project concerning energy conservation, (B) separately states the principal and interest components of the periodic payments to be made under the agreement, and (C) provides that the town or regional school district acquire title to the school building project upon payment of the total amount outstanding under the agreement. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• 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.
• Entity: includes any tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, and any tax-exempt political organization organized under Section 527 of said code. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• 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}
• 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.
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Executive sessions: means a meeting of a public agency at which the public is excluded for one or more of the following purposes: (A) Discussion concerning the appointment, employment, performance, evaluation, health or dismissal of a public officer or employee, provided that such individual may require that discussion be held at an open meeting. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• expenditure: means :

  (1) Any purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value, when made to promote the success or defeat of any candidate seeking the nomination for election, or election, of any person or for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of any referendum question or the success or defeat of any political party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601b

• Expense incurred but not paid: means any receipt of goods or services for which payment is required but not made or a written contract, promise or agreement to make an expenditure. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601b
• Exploratory committee: means a committee established by a candidate for a single primary or election (A) to determine whether to seek nomination or election to (i) the General Assembly, (ii) a state office, as defined in subsection (e) of section 9-610, or (iii) any other public office, and (B) if applicable, to aid or promote such candidate's candidacy for nomination to the General Assembly or any such state office. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• 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.
• farm: includes farm buildings, and accessory buildings thereto, nurseries, orchards, ranges, greenhouses, hoophouses and other temporary structures or other structures used primarily for the raising and, as an incident to ordinary farming operations, the sale of agricultural or horticultural commodities. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• farming: include cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and management of livestock, including horses, bees, the production of honey, poultry, fur-bearing animals and wildlife, and the raising or harvesting of oysters, clams, mussels, other molluscan shellfish or fish. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Federal account: means a depository account that is subject to the disclosure and contribution limits provided under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended from time to time. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• 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.
• 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}
• Formal application of retirement: means : (A) the member's application, birth certificate or notarized statement supported by other evidence satisfactory to the board, in lieu thereof, (B) records of service, if such records are required by the board to determine a salary rate or years of creditable service, (C) a statement of payment plan, including, if applicable, the fixed period of time selected by a member under Plan C or the coparticipant's share designated under Plan D, (D) in the case of an application for a disability benefit, a physician's, a physician assistant's or an advanced practice registered nurse's statement of health, and (E) any other documentation required by the board. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Formal leave of absence: means any absence from active service in the public schools of Connecticut formally granted by a member's employer as evidenced by contemporary records of the employer, provided in the case of an absence due to illness, medical or other evidence of such illness may, at the discretion of the Teachers' Retirement Board, be accepted in lieu of evidence of the formal granting of a leave. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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}
• Freedom of Information Act: means this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Funding: means the accumulation of assets in advance of the payment of retirement allowances in accordance with a board-approved actuarial methodology. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governmental function: means the administration or management of a program of a public agency, which program has been authorized by law to be administered or managed by a person, where (A) the person receives funding from the public agency for administering or managing the program, (B) the public agency is involved in or regulates to a significant extent such person's administration or management of the program, whether or not such involvement or regulation is direct, pervasive, continuous or day-to-day, and (C) the person participates in the formulation of governmental policies or decisions in connection with the administration or management of the program and such policies or decisions bind the public agency. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• grant application: means formal notification of intention to apply for a state grant-in-aid for a particular school building project. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• 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}
• 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.
• 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.
• Immediate family: means the spouse or a dependent child of an individual. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• 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}
• independent expenditure: means an expenditure, as defined in section 9-601b, that is made without the consent, coordination, or consultation of, a candidate or agent of the candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601c
• Individual: means a human being, a sole proprietorship, or a professional service corporation organized under chapter 594a and owned by a single human being. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• intellectual disability: means a significant limitation in intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior that originated during the developmental period before eighteen years of age. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1g
• 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}
• Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, and any regulations promulgated under or interpretations of said code that may affect this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
• 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.
• judicial office: includes , but is not limited to, the Division of Public Defender Services. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• 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.
• last session for admission of electors prior to an election: means the day which is the eighteenth day prior to an election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• 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}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• legislative body: means : (1) As applied to unconsolidated towns, the town meeting. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Legislative caucus committee: means a committee established under subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 9-605 by the majority of the members of a political party who are also state representatives or state senators. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Legislative leadership committee: means a committee established under subdivision (3) of subsection (e) of section 9-605 by a leader of the General Assembly. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• 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.
• Limitation year: means the twelve-month period beginning each July first and ending each June thirtieth. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Lobbyist: means a lobbyist, as defined in section 1-91, and "communicator lobbyist" means a communicator lobbyist, as defined in section 1-91, and "client lobbyist" means a client lobbyist, as defined in section 1-91. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Major alteration: means a capital improvement of an existing building, the total project costs of which exceed ten thousand dollars except for projects approved pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-65, for public school purposes resulting in improved educational conditions. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Major party: means (A) a political party or organization whose candidate for Governor at the last-preceding election for Governor received, under the designation of that political party or organization, at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor, or (B) a political party having, at the last-preceding election for Governor, a number of enrolled members on the active registry list equal to at least twenty per cent of the total number of enrolled members of all political parties on the active registry list in the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Meeting: means any hearing or other proceeding of a public agency, any convening or assembly of a quorum of a multimember public agency, and any communication by or to a quorum of a multimember public agency, whether in person or by means of electronic equipment, to discuss or act upon a matter over which the public agency has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Member: means any Connecticut teacher employed (A) on, and compensated for, the first school day, in accordance with the member's contractual schedule, and (B) for an average of at least one-half of each school day after the first school day, except that no teacher who under any provision of the general statutes elects not to participate in the system shall be a member unless and until the teacher elects to participate in the system. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Minor party: means a political party or organization which is not a major party and whose candidate for the office in question received at the last-preceding regular election for such office, under the designation of that political party or organization, at least one per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for such office at such election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipal clerk: means the clerk of a municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Municipal election: means the regularly recurring election held in a municipality at which the electors of the municipality choose public officials of such municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Municipal office: means an elective office for which only the electors of a single town, city, borough, or political subdivision, as defined in subdivision (10) of this section, may vote, including the office of justice of the peace. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Municipality: means any city, borough or town within the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• National committee: means the organization which according to the bylaws of a political party is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the party at the national level. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Normal cost: means the amount of contribution which the state is required to make into the retirement fund in order to meet the actuarial cost of current service. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: shall include affirmations in cases where by law an affirmation may be used for an oath, and, in like cases, the word "swear" shall include the word "affirm". See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• 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.
• Official ballot: means the official ballot to be used at an election, or the official ballot to be used thereat in accordance with the provisions of section 9-272. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Ordinance: means an enactment under the provisions of section 7-157. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Organization: means all labor organizations, (A) as defined in the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as from time to time amended, or (B) as defined in subdivision (9) of section 31-101, employee organizations as defined in subsection (d) of section 5-270 and subdivision (6) of section 7-467, bargaining representative organizations for teachers, any local, state or national organization, to which a labor organization pays membership or per capita fees, based upon its affiliation or membership, and trade or professional associations which receive their funds exclusively from membership dues, whether organized in or outside of this state, but does not mean a candidate committee, party committee or a political committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Organization expenditure: means an expenditure by a party committee, legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee for the benefit of a candidate or candidate committee for:

  (A) The preparation, display or mailing or other distribution of a party candidate listing. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601

• 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.
• Party: means a political party having the largest or second largest number of enrolled members in this state according to the most recent enrollment records on file in the office of the secretary. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• party candidate listing: means any communication that meets the following criteria: (i) The communication lists the name or names of candidates for election to public office, (ii) the communication is distributed through public advertising such as broadcast stations, cable television, newspapers or similar media, or through direct mail, telephone, electronic mail, publicly accessible sites on the Internet or personal delivery, and (iii) the communication is made to promote the success or defeat of any candidate or slate of candidates seeking the nomination for election, or election or for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of any referendum question or the success or defeat of any political party, provided such communication is not a solicitation for or on behalf of a candidate committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Party committee: means a state central committee or a town committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Party designation committee: means an organization, composed of at least twenty-five members who are electors, which has, on or after November 4, 1981, reserved a party designation with the Secretary of the State pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Party-endorsed candidate: means (A) in the case of a candidate for state or district office, a person endorsed by the convention of a political party as a candidate in a primary to be held by such party, and (B) in the case of a candidate for municipal office or for member of a town committee, a person endorsed by the town committee, caucus or convention, as the case may be, of a political party as a candidate in a primary to be held by such party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• permanent substitute teacher: is a person who serves as a substitute teacher in the same assignment for an entire school year. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Person: means natural person, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association or society. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Person: means an individual, committee, firm, partnership, organization, association, syndicate, company trust, corporation, limited liability company or any other legal entity of any kind but does not mean the state or any political or administrative subdivision of the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personnel search committee: means a body appointed by a public agency, whose sole purpose is to recommend to the appointing agency a candidate or candidates for an executive-level employment position. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Political committee: means (A) a committee organized by a business entity or organization, (B) persons other than individuals, or two or more individuals organized or acting jointly conducting their activities in or outside the state, (C) an exploratory committee, (D) a committee established by or on behalf of a slate of candidates in a primary for the office of justice of the peace, but does not mean a candidate committee or a party committee, (E) a legislative caucus committee, or (F) a legislative leadership committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Political subdivision: means any voting district or combination of voting districts constituting a part of a municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Population: means the population according to the last-completed United States census. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• President: means the office of President of the United States. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Presidential electors: means persons elected to cast their ballots for President and Vice President of the United States. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• 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.
• Primary: means a meeting of the enrolled members of a political party and, when applicable under section 9-431, unaffiliated electors, held during consecutive hours at which such members or electors may, without assembling at the same hour, vote by secret ballot for candidates for nomination to office or for town committee members. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Primary: means a presidential preference primary in which any enrolled member of a party is eligible to vote for a candidate for such party's nomination for President. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• Print: means methods of duplication of words by mechanical process, but shall not include typewriting. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• public buildings: shall include a statehouse, courthouse, townhouse, arsenal, magazine, prison, community correctional center, almshouse, market or other building belonging to the state, or to any town, city or borough in the state, and any church, chapel, meetinghouse or other building generally used for religious worship, and any college, academy, schoolhouse or other building generally used for literary instruction. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Public funds: means funds belonging to, or under the control of, the state or a political subdivision of the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public records or files: means any recorded data or information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, received or retained by a public agency, or to which a public agency is entitled to receive a copy by law or contract under section 1-218, whether such data or information be handwritten, typed, tape-recorded, videotaped, printed, photostated, photographed or recorded by any other method. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-200
• Public school: means any day school conducted within or without this state under the orders and superintendence of a duly elected school committee, a board of education, the State Board of Education, the Office of Early Childhood, the Board of Regents for Higher Education, or any of its constituent units, The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, the board of governors or any of its constituent units, the Technical Education and Career System, the E. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• 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}
• Referendum: means (1) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters of a municipality at any regular or special state or municipal election, as defined in this section, (2) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters, which meeting is not an election, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, and is not a town meeting, or (3) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters pursuant to section 7-7 or pursuant to charter or special act. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Referendum question: means a question to be voted upon at any election or referendum, including a proposed constitutional amendment. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Regional educational service center: means a body corporate and politic established pursuant to the provisions of part IVa of chapter 164. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Registrar: means the registrar of voters in a municipality who is enrolled with the political party holding a primary and, in each municipality where there are different registrars for different voting districts, means the registrar so enrolled in the voting district in which, at the last-preceding regular election, the presiding officer for the purpose of declaring the result of the vote of the whole municipality was moderator. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Registrars: means the registrars of voters of the municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Registry list: means the list of electors of any municipality certified by the registrars. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Regular election: means any state or municipal election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• 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.
• Renovation: means a school building project to refurbish an existing building that was not renovated in accordance with this subdivision during the twenty-year period ending on the date of application, and of which not less than seventy-five per cent of the facility to be renovated is at least twenty years old, and that results in at least fifty-five per cent of the square footage of the completed building project being so renovated and the entire completed project having a useful life comparable to that of a new construction, and for which the total project costs of the renovation are less than the total project costs of a new construction. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Retired member: means a member who receives a retirement benefit computed pursuant to section 10-183g. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Retirement allowance: means payments for life derived from member contributions, including credited interest, and contributions from the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• savings banks: shall include savings banks, societies for savings and savings societies. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• School year: means the twelve months ending on June thirtieth of each year. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the State. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-463
• 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.
• Slate: means a group of candidates for nomination by a political party to the office of justice of the peace of a town, which group numbers at least a bare majority of the number of justices of the peace to be nominated by such party for such town. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• Slate committee: means a political committee formed by two or more candidates for nomination or election to any municipal office in the same town, city or borough, or in a primary for the office of justice of the peace or the position of town committee member, whenever such political committee will serve as the sole funding vehicle for the candidates' campaigns. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Social media: means an electronic medium where users may create and view user-generated content, such as uploaded or downloaded videos or still photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts or instant messages. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Solicit: means (A) requesting that a contribution be made, (B) participating in any fundraising activities for a candidate committee, exploratory committee, political committee or party committee, including, but not limited to, forwarding tickets to potential contributors, receiving contributions for transmission to any such committee, serving on the committee that is hosting a fundraising event, introducing the candidate or making other public remarks at a fundraising event, being honored or otherwise recognized at a fundraising event, or bundling contributions, (C) serving as chairperson, treasurer or deputy treasurer of any such committee, or (D) establishing a political committee for the sole purpose of soliciting or receiving contributions for any committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Solicitor: means an individual appointed by a treasurer of a committee to receive, but not to disburse, funds on behalf of the committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Special election: means any election not a regular election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Standards: means architectural, engineering and education space specifications and standards for facility eligibility. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• State election: means the election held in the state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the even-numbered years in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Connecticut. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• State office: means any office for which all the electors of the state may vote and includes the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller, Attorney General and senator in Congress, but does not include the office of elector of President and Vice-President of the United States. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-372
• State officers: means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller and Attorney General. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• succeeding: when used by way of reference to any section or sections, mean the section or sections next preceding, next following or next succeeding, unless some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supplemental appropriation: Budget authority provided in an appropriations act in addition to regular or continuing appropriations already provided. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies, such as disaster relief, or other needs deemed too urgent to be postponed until the enactment of next year's regular appropriations act.
• Surviving spouse: means a widow or widower of a deceased member who (A) was living with the member at the time of the member's death, or receiving, or entitled by court order or agreement to receive, regular support payments from the member, and (B) has not remarried. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Survivor: means a surviving spouse, a dependent former spouse, a dependent child and a dependent parent. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• System: means the Connecticut teachers' retirement system. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Teacher: means any: (A) Person, including, but not limited to, a teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent who is employed by a public school in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit, except a school business administration endorsement, issued by the State Board of Education, provided on and after July 1, 1975, such certificate shall be for the position in which the person is then employed, except as provided for in section 10-183qq. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.
• 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.
• Treasurer: means the individual appointed by a candidate or by the chairperson of a party committee or a political committee to receive and disburse funds on behalf of the candidate or committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Turn-key purchase: means the purchase of a facility that a party has agreed to construct or renovate and deliver as fully completed in accordance with an agreement between that party and a purchasing school district. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-282
• Unfunded liability: means the actuarially determined value of the liability for service before the date of the actuarial valuation less the accumulated assets in the retirement fund. See Connecticut General Statutes 10-183b
• 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}
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Voter: means a person qualified to vote at town and district meetings under the provisions of section 7-6. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Voters: means those persons qualified to vote under the provisions of section 7-6. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Voting district: means any municipality, or any political subdivision thereof, having not more than one polling place in a regular election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Voting tabulator: means a machine, including, but not limited to, a device which operates by electronic means, for the registering and recording of votes cast at elections, primaries and referenda. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Write-in ballot: means a vote cast for any person whose name does not appear on the official ballot as a candidate for the office for which the person's name is written in. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1