Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 448 > Part I - Terms and Conditions of Employment

• admissions: means and includes the net sum of money after deduction of any federal taxes for admitting a person or vehicle or persons to any place of amusement, sport, or recreation or for the privilege of entering or staying in any place of amusement, sport, or recreation, including, but not limited to, theaters, outdoor theaters, shows, exhibitions, games, races, or any place where charge is made by way of sale of tickets, gate charges, seat charges, box charges, season pass charges, cover charges, greens fees, participation fees, entrance fees, or other fees or receipts of anything of value measured on an admission or entrance or length of stay or seat box accommodations in any place where there is any exhibition, amusement, sport, or recreation, and all dues and fees paid to private clubs and membership clubs providing recreational or physical fitness facilities, including, but not limited to, golf, tennis, swimming, yachting, boating, athletic, exercise, and fitness facilities, except physical fitness facilities owned or operated by any hospital licensed under chapter 395. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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.
• agency of the state: means the state and any department of, or corporation, agency, or instrumentality created, designated, or established by, the state. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• authority: means the body politic and corporate, and agency of the state created by this part. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• 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}
• bonds: means the notes, bonds, refunding bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness or obligations, in either temporary or definitive form, which the authority is authorized to issue pursuant to this part. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Business: means any activity engaged in by any person, or caused to be engaged in by him or her, with the object of private or public gain, benefit, or advantage, either direct or indirect. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Central Florida Expressway Authority: means the body politic and corporate, and agency of the state created by this part. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Central Florida Expressway System: means any expressway and appurtenant facilities, including all approaches, roads, bridges, and avenues for the expressway and any rapid transit, trams, or fixed guideways located within the right-of-way of an expressway. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Certificate: means a Florida Certificate of Forwarding Agent Address. See Florida Statutes 212.06
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• consumption: include the sale, use, storage, or consumption of all tangible advertising materials imported or caused to be imported into this state. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• Cost price: means the actual cost of articles of tangible personal property without any deductions therefrom on account of the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, transportation charges, or any expenses whatsoever. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Credit bureau: An agency that collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financing companies. (Also commonly referred to as consumer-reporting agency or credit-reporting agency.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• dealer: as used in this chapter , includes every person who manufactures or produces tangible personal property for sale at retail; for use, consumption, or distribution; or for storage to be used or consumed in this state. See Florida Statutes 212.06
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• department: means the Department of Revenue. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• department: means the Department of Transportation. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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}
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• federal agency: means and includes the United States, the President of the United States, and any department of, or corporation, agency, or instrumentality created, designated, or established by, the United States. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Gross sales: means the sum total of all sales of tangible personal property as defined herein, without any deduction whatsoever of any kind or character, except as provided in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• in the state: means within the state boundaries of Florida as defined in Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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.
• 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}
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• 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}
• lease-purchase agreement: means the lease-purchase agreements that the authority is authorized to enter into with the Department of Transportation pursuant to this part. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• 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.
• License: as used in this chapter with reference to the use of real property, means the granting of a privilege to use or occupy a building or a parcel of real property for any purpose. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• limited access expressway: means a street or highway specifically designed for through traffic, and over, from, or to which, a person does not have the right of easement, use, or access except in accordance with the rules of the authority governing its use. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Marketplace: means any physical place or electronic medium through which tangible personal property is offered for sale. See Florida Statutes 212.05965
• member: means an individual who serves on the governing body of the authority. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• 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.
• Office of Economic and Demographic Research: means an entity designated by joint rule of the Legislature or by agreement between the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability: means an entity designated by joint rule of the Legislature or by agreement between the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Orange County gasoline tax funds: means the revenue derived from the 80-percent surplus gasoline tax funds accruing in each year to the Department of Transportation for use in Orange County under Florida Statutes 348.752
• owners: as used in this chapter shall be taken to include and mean all persons obligated to collect and pay over to the state the tax imposed under this section, inclusive of all holders of certificates of registration issued as herein provided. See Florida Statutes 212.04
• 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 any individual, firm, copartnership, joint adventure, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or other group or combination acting as a unit and also includes any political subdivision, municipality, state agency, bureau, or department and includes the plural as well as the singular number. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Real property: means the surface land, improvements thereto, and fixtures, and is synonymous with "realty" and "real estate. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• registered mail: includes certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• 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.
• Remote sale: means a retail sale of tangible personal property ordered by mail, telephone, the Internet, or other means of communication from a person who receives the order outside of this state and transports the property or causes the property to be transported from any jurisdiction, including this state, to a location in this state. See Florida Statutes 212.0596
• rental: means leasing or renting of living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations in hotels, apartment houses, roominghouses, tourist or trailer camps and real property, the same being defined as follows:
  (a) Every building or other structure kept, used, maintained, or advertised as, or held out to the public to be, a place where sleeping accommodations are supplied for pay to transient or permanent guests or tenants, in which 10 or more rooms are furnished for the accommodation of such guests, and having one or more dining rooms or cafes where meals or lunches are served to such transient or permanent guests; such sleeping accommodations and dining rooms or cafes being conducted in the same building or buildings in connection therewith, shall, for the purpose of this chapter, be deemed a hotel. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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).
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• retail sale: includes a remote sale as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Retailer: means and includes every person engaged in the business of making sales at retail or for distribution, or use, or consumption, or storage to be used or consumed in this state. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Sale: means and includes:
  (a) Any transfer of title or possession, or both, exchange, barter, license, lease, or rental, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, of tangible personal property for a consideration. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Sales price: means the total amount paid for tangible personal property, including any services that are a part of the sale, valued in money, whether paid in money or otherwise, and includes any amount for which credit is given to the purchaser by the seller, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service cost, interest charged, losses, or any other expense whatsoever. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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.
• State Board of Administration: means the body corporate existing under the provisions of Florida Statutes 348.752
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Storage: means and includes any keeping or retention in this state of tangible personal property for use or consumption in this state or for any purpose other than sale at retail in the regular course of business. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Tangible personal property: means and includes personal property which may be seen, weighed, measured, or touched or is in any manner perceptible to the senses, including electric power or energy, boats, motor vehicles and mobile homes as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• 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.
• transportation facilities: means and includes the mobile and fixed assets, and the associated real or personal property or rights, used in the transportation of persons or property by any means of conveyance, and all appurtenances, such as, but not limited to, highways; limited or controlled access lanes, avenues of access, and facilities; vehicles; fixed guideway facilities, including maintenance facilities; and administrative and other office space for the exercise by the authority of the powers and obligations granted in this part. See Florida Statutes 348.752
• 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.
• Use: means and includes the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to the ownership thereof, or interest therein, except that it does not include the sale at retail of that property in the regular course of business. See Florida Statutes 212.02
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
• 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