Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 361 - Public Utilities: Special Powers

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Advanced practice registered nurse: means any person licensed in this state to practice professional nursing and who is licensed in an advanced nursing practice, including certified nurse midwives, certified nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, and psychiatric nurses. See Florida Statutes 464.003
• 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.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Autonomous practice: means advanced nursing practice by an advanced practice registered nurse who is registered under…. See Florida Statutes 464.003
• 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.
• 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}
• Board: means the Board of Nursing. See Florida Statutes 464.003
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the 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.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 464.003
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Electric utility: means any municipality, authority, commission, or other public body, investor-owned electric utility, or rural electric cooperative which owns, maintains, or operates an electrical energy generation, transmission, or distribution system within the state on June 25, 1975. See Florida Statutes 361.11
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Foreign public utility: means any person, as defined in subsection (3), the principal location or principal place of business of which is not located within this state, which owns, maintains, or operates facilities for the generation, transmission, or distribution of electrical energy and which supplies electricity to retail or wholesale customers, or both, on a continuous, reliable, and dependable basis; or any affiliate or subsidiary of such person, the business of which is limited to the generation or transmission, or both, of electrical energy and activities reasonably incidental thereto. See Florida Statutes 361.11
• 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
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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: means :
  (a) Any natural person;
  (b) The United States; any state; any municipality, political subdivision, or municipal corporation created by or pursuant to the laws of the United States or any state; or any board, corporation, or other entity or body declared by or pursuant to the laws of the United States or any state to be a department, agency, or instrumentality of any thereof;
  (c) Any corporation, not-for-profit corporation, firm, partnership, cooperative association, electric cooperative, or business trust of any nature whatsoever organized and existing under the laws of the United States or any state; or
  (d) Any foreign country; any political subdivision or governmental unit of a foreign country; or any corporation, not-for-profit corporation, firm, partnership, cooperative association, electric cooperative, or business trust of any nature whatsoever organized and existing under the laws of a foreign country or of a political subdivision or governmental unit of a foreign country. See Florida Statutes 361.11
• 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
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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
• Project: means a joint electric power supply project and any and all facilities, including all equipment, structures, machinery, and tangible and intangible property, real and personal, for the joint generation or transmission of electrical energy, or both, including any fuel supply or source useful for such a project. See Florida Statutes 361.11
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• registered mail: includes certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Registered nurse: means any person licensed in this state or holding an active multistate license under…. See Florida Statutes 464.003
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01