Terms Used In Kansas Statutes > Chapter 60 > Article 41 - Asset Seizure and Forfeiture

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• 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}
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contraband: means any property the possession of which is illegal. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conveyance: includes any vehicle, trailer, vessel, aircraft or other means of transportation. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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.
• 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:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• 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.
• Facilitate: means any act or omission broadly construed to encompass any use or intended use of property which makes an act giving rise to forfeiture less difficult and laborious. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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.
• 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}
• 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}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest holder: means a secured party within the meaning of the uniform commercial code, a mortgagee, lien creditor, judgment creditor or the beneficiary of a security interest or encumbrance pertaining to an interest in property, whose interest would be perfected against a good faith purchaser for value. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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.
• Law enforcement officer: means any public servant, whether employed by the state of Kansas or subdivisions thereof or by the United States, vested by law with a duty to maintain public order, to make arrests for offenses, or to enforce the criminal laws, whether that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to a specific class of offenses. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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}
• 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.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• 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.
• Notice of pending forfeiture: means a written statement by the plaintiff's attorney following a seizure of property but prior to the filing of a judicial complaint against such property allowing for an administrative resolution to claims or recognition of exemptions. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Notice of seizure for forfeiture: means a written statement by a law enforcement agency that property has been seized and may be proceeded against pursuant to this act, and providing information concerning the property, the seizure, and the law enforcement agency. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Omission: means a failure to perform an act the performance of which is required by law. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means a person, other than an interest holder, who has an interest in property. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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 or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Personal service: means service as defined by Kan. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• 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.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Proceeds: means anything of value, derived directly or indirectly from or realized through unlawful activity, including any monies used or intended to be used, or facilitate or intended to facilitate, the purchase, manufacture, cultivation, transportation, storage, distribution, sale, or possession of controlled substances or contraband. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Property: means anything of value, and includes any interest in property, including any benefit, privilege, claim or right with respect to anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights to them and interest in them, equitable as well as legal. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recognition of exemption: means a written statement by the plaintiff's attorney stipulating to an interest in property exempt from forfeiture. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Regulated interest holder: means an interest holder that is a business authorized to do business in this state and is under the jurisdiction of a state or federal regulatory agency relating to banking, securities, insurance or real estate. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• seal: includes an impression of the seal upon the paper alone, as well as upon wax or a wafer affixed to the paper. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Seizing agency: means any department or agency of this state or its political subdivisions which regularly employs law enforcement officers and which employed the law enforcement officer who seized property for forfeiture, or such other agency as the seizing agency may designate in a particular case. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Seizure for forfeiture: means seizure of property by a law enforcement officer including a constructive seizure coupled with an assertion by the seizing agency or a plaintiff's attorney that the property is subject to forfeiture. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• 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.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Statement of nonexempt interests: means a written statement by the plaintiff's attorney refusing to recognize that a particular interest or interests in property are exempt from forfeiture. See Kansas Statutes 60-4102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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}
• 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.