Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 318 - Disposition of Traffic Infractions

• 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.
• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Closure: means the cessation of operation of a solid waste management facility and the act of securing such facility so that it will pose no significant threat to human health or the environment and includes long-term monitoring and maintenance of a facility if required by department rule. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Environmental Protection or any successor agency performing a like function. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Department: means Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, defined in…. See Florida Statutes 318.13
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or upon any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter other lands or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters, or otherwise enter the environment. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• 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.
• Generation: means the act or process of producing solid or hazardous waste. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Guarantor: means any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this part. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• Hazardous substance: means any substance that is defined as a hazardous substance in the United States Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 94 Stat. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Hazardous waste: means solid waste, or a combination of solid wastes, which, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly transported, disposed of, stored, treated, or otherwise managed. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Hazardous waste facility: means any building, site, structure, or equipment at or by which hazardous waste is disposed of, stored, or treated. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Hazardous waste management: means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, recycling, and disposal of hazardous waste. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Infraction: means a noncriminal violation that may require community service hours under…. See Florida Statutes 318.13
• 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.
• Landfill: means any solid waste land disposal area for which a permit, other than a general permit, is required by…. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• Manifest: means the recordkeeping system used for identifying the concentration, quantity, composition, origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, storage, or treatment. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• 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.
• 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.
• Officer: includes any individual employed by a sheriff's department or the police department of a chartered municipality who is acting as a traffic infraction enforcement officer as provided in…. See Florida Statutes 318.13
• Official: means any judge authorized by law to preside over a court or hearing adjudicating traffic infractions. See Florida Statutes 318.13
• 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 individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Person: means any and all persons, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm, or association; any municipal or private corporation organized or existing under the laws of this state or any other state; any county of this state; and any governmental agency of this state or the Federal Government. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Processing: means any technique designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any solid waste so as to render it safe for transport; amenable to recovery, storage, or recycling; safe for disposal; or reduced in volume or concentration. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Recovered materials: means metal, paper, glass, plastic, textile, or rubber materials that have known recycling potential, can be feasibly recycled, and have been diverted and source separated or have been removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, or reuse as raw materials, whether or not the materials require subsequent processing or separation from each other, but the term does not include materials destined for any use that constitutes disposal. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Recycling: means any process by which solid waste, or materials that would otherwise become solid waste, are collected, separated, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or intermediate or final products. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• 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.
• 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.
• Solid waste: means sludge unregulated under the federal Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, sludge from a waste treatment works, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, or garbage, rubbish, refuse, special waste, or other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from domestic, industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, or governmental operations. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Storage: means the containment or holding of a hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous waste. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Suspension: means that a licensee's privilege to drive a motor vehicle is temporarily withdrawn. See Florida Statutes 318.13
• Transport: means the movement of hazardous waste from the point of generation or point of entry into the state to any offsite intermediate points and to the point of offsite ultimate disposal, storage, treatment, or exit from the state. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Treatment: when used in connection with hazardous waste, means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, which is designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize it or render it nonhazardous, safe for transport, amenable to recovery, amenable to storage or disposal, or reduced in volume or concentration. See Florida Statutes 403.703
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.