Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 377 - Energy Resources

• Accidental release: means an unanticipated emission of a regulated substance into the ambient air from a stationary source. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Accidental Release Prevention Program: means the program to implement the accidental release prevention, detection, and response provisions of…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the salary of a member and credited to his or her individual account in the Annuity Savings Trust Fund provided in…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Activate: means the execution and implementation of the necessary plans and activities required to mitigate, respond to, or recover from an emergency or disaster pursuant to this chapter and the state comprehensive emergency management plan. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Active duty: means full-time duty in active military service of the United States. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value when computed at regular interest upon the basis of the mortality tables adopted by the division. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• 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.
• Air National Guard: means that part of the National Guard of a state or territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, active or inactive, which is:
  (a) An air force;
  (b) Trained, and has its officers appointed, under the United States Constitution;
  (c) Organized, armed, and equipped wholly or partially at federal expense; and
  (d) Federally recognized. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• 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.
• Annuity: means annual payments for life derived as provided in this chapter from the accumulated contributions of a member. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• 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
• Armed forces: means the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Armory: means a building or group of buildings used primarily for housing and training troops or for storing military property, supplies, or records. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Army National Guard: means that part of the National Guard of a state or territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, active or inactive, which is:
  (a) A land force;
  (b) Trained, and has its officers appointed, under the United States Constitution;
  (c) Organized, armed, and equipped wholly or partially at federal expense; and
  (d) Federally recognized. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• Athletic trainer: means a person licensed under this part who has met the requirements of this part, including the education requirements established by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education or its successor organization and necessary credentials from the Board of Certification. See Florida Statutes 468.701
• Athletic training: means service and care provided by an athletic trainer under the direction of a physician as specified in…. See Florida Statutes 468.701
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Audit: means a review of information at, or submitted by, a stationary source subject to…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• average final compensation: means the average annual earnable compensation of a member for 10 years during the last 15 years prior to retirement during which he or she contributed and in which the member's annual earnable compensation was highest or the average of his or her annual earnable compensation since July 1, 1945, if greater. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• 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}
• Beneficiary: means any person in receipt of a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by this chapter. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the Board of Athletic Training. See Florida Statutes 468.701
• Board of Certification: means the nationally accredited certifying body for athletic trainers or its successor agency. See Florida Statutes 468.701
• Budget authority: Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Federal funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).
• Catastrophic disaster: means a disaster that will require massive state and federal assistance, including immediate military involvement. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board: means the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board created under…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Clean Air Act: means the federal Clean Air Act, as amended, codified at 42 U. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Commission: means the State Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Commission created pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• Commission: means the State Emergency Response Commission for Hazardous Materials created by Executive Order 94-138. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Committee: means any local emergency planning committee established in the state pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• Committee: means any local emergency planning committee established in the state under…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• 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.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Conservation lands: means lands that are currently managed for conservation, outdoor resource-based recreation, or archaeological or historic preservation, except those lands that were acquired solely to facilitate the acquisition of other conservation lands. See Florida Statutes 253.034
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Convening authority: means a commissioned officer in command and his or her successors in command. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• County: means a political subdivision of the state established pursuant to Florida Statutes 165.031
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service for which credit is allowable under…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Management Services. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 468.701
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Disaster: means any natural, technological, or civil emergency that causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to result in a declaration of a state of emergency by a county, the Governor, or the President of the United States. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• 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:
• Division: means the Division of Emergency Management within the Executive Office of the Governor, or the successor to that division. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Division: means the Division of Emergency Management within the Executive Office of the Governor. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• Division: means the Division of Emergency Management in the Executive Office of the Governor. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Earnable compensation: means the full compensation payable to a teacher working the full working time for his or her position. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Emergency: means any occurrence, or threat thereof, whether natural, technological, or manmade, in war or in peace, which results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Emergency management: means the preparation for, the mitigation of, the response to, and the recovery from emergencies and disasters. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Employer: means the state, the school boards of all the districts of the state employing teachers, or community college district boards of trustees, subject to the provisions of this chapter, any other agency of and within the state by which the teacher is paid, or any nonprofit professional association or corporation of teachers as referred to in subsection (3). See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Enlisted personnel: means persons enlisted, inducted, called, or conscripted into an armed force in an enlisted grade. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• EPCRA: means the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, ss. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Facility: means facility as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• 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.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{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.
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• 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}
• Formation: means any one of the following activities:
  (a) "Incorporation"-The establishment of a municipality. See Florida Statutes 165.031
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grade: means a step or degree in a graduated scale of office or military rank which is established and designated as a grade by law or rule. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Inspection: means a review of information at a stationary source subject to…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• 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}
• 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}
• Legislative Auditing Committee: means a committee or committees designated by joint rule of the Legislature, by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or by agreement between the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local emergency management agency: means an organization created in accordance with the provisions of ss. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Major disaster: means a disaster that will likely exceed local capabilities and require a broad range of state and federal assistance. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system as provided in…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Membership service: means service as a teacher as described in…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• military judge: includes the summary court-martial officer. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Military post: means an armory, facility, installation, or real property under the supervision or control of the Armory Board which is used primarily for housing and training troops; performing administrative duties; or storing military property, supplies, or records. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Multiple use: means the harmonious and coordinated management of timber, recreation, conservation of fish and wildlife, forage, archaeological and historic sites, habitat and other biological resources, or water resources so that they are used in the combination that will best serve the people of the state, making the most judicious use of the land for some or all of these resources and giving consideration to the relative values of the various resources. See Florida Statutes 253.034
• Municipality: means a municipality created pursuant to general or special law authorized or recognized pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 165.031
• municipality: as used in this chapter , shall mean any city, town, or village duly incorporated under the laws of the state. See Florida Statutes 180.01
• 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 Guard: means the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• National Guard Bureau: means the joint Bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force within the Department of Defense, as defined in Florida Statutes 250.01
• Natural emergency: means an emergency caused by a natural event, including, but not limited to, a hurricane, a storm, a flood, severe wave action, a drought, or an earthquake. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Newspaper of general circulation: means a newspaper printed in the language most commonly spoken in the area within which it circulates, which is readily available for purchase by all inhabitants in its area of circulation, but does not include a newspaper intended primarily for members of a particular professional or occupational group, a newspaper the primary function of which is to carry legal notices, or a newspaper that is given away primarily to distribute advertising. See Florida Statutes 165.031
• 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.
• Offense: means a criminal charge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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
• Officer: means a commissioned officer or warrant officer. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner or operator: means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises any stationary source subject to…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• 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.
• Pension: means annual payments for life derived as provided in this chapter, from money provided by the state and means, when used in conjunction with plan E, the excess of the retirement allowance as provided by plan E over the annuity as defined above. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, state or any agency or institution thereof, municipality, political subdivision of the state, and any agency, department, or instrumentality of the United States, and any officer, agent, or employee thereof, and, for the purposes of…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• 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.
• Personal protective equipment: means protective clothing or equipment designed to protect an individual person from injury or the spread of infection. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• 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 subdivision: means any county or municipality created pursuant to law. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• 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
• Post commander: means the officer in charge of a military post or training site, a National Guard armory, or a portion of a National Guard armory when colocated in an Armed Forces Reserve Center. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Prior service: means service as a teacher rendered prior to the date of establishment of the retirement system and for which credit is allowable under…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: means a process as that term is defined under Florida Statutes 252.936
• Program level: means a Program 1, Program 2, or Program 3 stationary source level as determined under Florida Statutes 252.936
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public access: as used in this chapter and chapter 259, means access by the general public to state lands and water, including vessel access made possible by boat ramps, docks, and associated support facilities, where compatible with conservation and recreation objectives. See Florida Statutes 253.034
• Public health emergency: means any occurrence, or threat thereof, whether natural or manmade, which results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the public health from infectious disease, chemical agents, nuclear agents, biological toxins, or situations involving mass casualties or natural disasters, declared as a public health emergency as declared by the State Health Officer. See Florida Statutes 252.34
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rank: means the order of precedence among members of the armed forces. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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}
• registered mail: includes certified mail with return receipt requested. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Regular interest: means interest at such rate as may be set from time to time by the Department of Management Services. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Regulated substance: means any regulated substance defined or listed under…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• 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.
• 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.
• Retirement allowance: means annual payments for life and is the sum of the annuity plus the pension; except that, when used in conjunction with plan E of…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Retirement system: means the Teachers' Retirement System of Florida provided for in…. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Risk Management Plan: means the Risk Management Plan required under…. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• SCRA: means the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Title 50, Appendix U. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Service: means service as a teacher as described in subsection (3) rendered while a member of the retirement system. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Servicemember: means any person serving as a member of the United States Armed Forces on active duty or state active duty and all members of the Florida National Guard and United States Reserve Forces. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• 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.
• Special district: means a local unit of special government, as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 165.031
• State active duty: means full-time duty in active military service of the State of Florida when ordered by the Governor or Adjutant General in accordance with…. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Stationary source: means any buildings, structures, equipment, installations, or regulated substance emitting stationary activities which belong to the same industrial group, which are located on one or more contiguous properties, which are under the control of the same person (or persons under common control), and from which an accidental release may occur. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Teacher: means any member of the teaching or professional staff and any certificated employee of any public free school, of any district school system and career center, any member of the teaching or professional staff of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, child training schools of the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Corrections, and any tax-supported institution of higher learning of the state, and any member and any certified employee of the Department of Education, any certified employee of the retirement system, any full-time employee of any nonprofit professional association or corporation of teachers functioning in Florida on a statewide basis, which seeks to protect and improve public school opportunities for children and advance the professional and welfare status of its members, any person now serving as superintendent, or who was serving as county superintendent of public instruction on July 1, 1939, and any hereafter duly elected or appointed superintendent, who holds a valid Florida teachers' certificate. See Florida Statutes 238.01
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• 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.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Troops: includes personnel of the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Trust fund: means the Operating Trust Fund of the division. See Florida Statutes 252.82
• Trust fund: means the Operating Trust Fund of the division. See Florida Statutes 252.936
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• USERRA: means the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, chapter 43 of Title 38 U. See Florida Statutes 250.01
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• 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